


The Leaf Is Not All That's Hidden

by tedthedead



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action Dueling, Action/Adventure, Age Difference, Blood and Violence, Community: kakasaku, Developing Relationship, Drama & Romance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fights, Fluff and Humor, Graphic Description, Kissing, Medical Trauma, Mild Gore, Plot, Post-War, Romance, Secret Relationship, Sex, Violence, just imagine that someone actually cared about female character development
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-01-01 10:20:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 163,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18333935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tedthedead/pseuds/tedthedead
Summary: What hides behind our clothes, behind our skin? What secrets are there, written in blood? Sakura doesn't need much, just an explanation. For why those two smoldering, mismatched eyes seemed to follow her every move, for why her blood felt like liquid flame. That much she deserves, at least.





	1. Hard Morning?

Things were just not going Sakura's way today.

First, her laundry had still been wet when she'd woken up, forcing her to dress without the skirt she usually wore over her shorts. Not the worst thing ever, she guessed, but it was apparently just the start.

Then her landlady had stopped her to  _chat_  about  _something_  that Sakura did not have the patience to listen to. By the time Sakura realized she had agreed to have Ms. Fujita over for tea, the woman had disappeared back into the building, and Sakura was still running very late.

Sakura rustled with the rough bandages around her right thigh, reflexively tightening them and her shuriken holster before she jumped onto the roofs of Konoha, running towards Tsunade's office at full tilt.

* * *

After a long night in and out of some of Konoha's finer gambling establishments, the Hokage herself didn't seem to be having the best morning either. Even with the most advanced medical ninjutsu ever developed floating around in her brain, there was nothing she could do if that brain was muddled in a hungover fog. It wasn't as if she would allow anyone around her to help and risk just making it worse. She settled for a few weak headache pills while the rice wine oozed its way out of her pores.

Instead, Tsunade preferred to suffer with very little dignity, barking orders at any person that unfortunately happened to find themselves in her line of sight. Sakura didn't fare any better once she entered the blonde woman's messy office.

"Good morning, shishou," Sakura said, only half as brightly as she had hoped to.

"And what's good about it? It's barely even morning anymore." Tsunade groaned, her forehead buried into her palms. Shizune stood behind her, sending Sakura an apologetic, and silent, look. Arriving late while Tsunade was already in this bad of a mood wasn't one of Sakura's best moves.

"Well, the birds are chirping and the sun is shining," Sakura knew it was weak and glib as soon as it left her lips, but her own morning had been just a little too frantic to have any real positivity. Tsunade's answering grunt wasn't any more optimistic.

"I'd much rather they stopped. All of them. Forever."

"I wouldn't bet on it."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed as she looked up at Sakura.

Okay,  _too_  glib. This Tsunade was just as dangerous as she normally was, if not more so. The friendly jibe didn't land as well as intended. Sakura smiled sheepishly and shrugged her arms in a pathetic apology that the Hokage wasn't inclined to accept.

"For that, you get to spend a week with the genin squads. Maybe you can teach them some chakra control while you learn to control your mouth. You can come back once my headache is gone."

From anyone else, it would have sounded harsh. Had Tsunade  _said_ it to anyone else, it would have been harsh. Luckily, Sakura knew the simmering rage sitting behind the desk was mostly just a vicious headache and dehydration. The fifth Hokage just put a very high value on tough love. She backed away towards the door carefully, waiting until she was almost out of the door before saying her goodbye.

"Drink plenty of fluids, Tsunade-shishou! Just for your own  _sake_!"

The door clicked safely shut behind Sakura, just as something heavy collided with it. The door rattled dangerously in its frame, but Sakura had already darted down the hall and back onto the roofs of Konoha. She wasn't willing to risk today being the day Tsunade actually followed her out of the office.

* * *

It had been several years since Sakura herself had been a genin, but she was still quite familiar with the training grounds they frequented for training. As a chūnin, she had access to more demanding, dangerous training grounds, but all shinobi made their way back to the more level training grounds at some point. After all, the charm of the Forest of Death and its blood-sucking leeches really only lasted for so long.

She was crossing the bridge on the way to the training grounds as she thought about how she would manage to stay busy while she spent a week following around the genin squads. It wasn't a vacation from her usual missions and hospital rounds, after all. Tsunade wasn't exactly a vindictive woman, but she would certainly stand behind her little punishment. Annoying her was a dire sin, and it would fare far better for Sakura to just do as she said. But that didn't mean she had to rush or anything.

A slight wind wound its way along the path and through her hair. The pink strands danced merrily in the breeze, tickling Sakura's chin and nose. The birdsong that surrounded her was actually quite nice if you weren't hearing the Hokage complain about it. Even the sunlight that dappled the ground beneath her feet seemed to be humming pleasantly as she walked towards the training grounds.

As a kunoichi, Sakura sometimes forgot to just stop and enjoy the small pleasantries the world could offer. War could ravage every last village on earth, but the birds would still sing, and the sun would still shine. Even a path as familiar as the one she was following now was beautiful when she thought of it that way.

She passed a sun-faded sign or two on her way through the training fields, but she didn't pay them very much attention. Like most Leaf Village shinobi, she already knew these overgrown woods like the back of her hand. Sakura was wandering now, only half-hoping to eventually run into one of the several genin teams that went careening around the city streets these days. The woods and training grounds were relatively quiet, compared to the village. She was enjoying her walk more than she'd expected. Maybe she could wait until tomorrow to find a squad…she still had laundry to finish and her bed was calling her name.

_CR-RRRACK!_

Okay, maybe not.

Sakura leapt back just in time to avoid the tree that nearly exploded to her left. Splinters of bark whistled past her as she managed to whirl her way behind another tree trunk. Sawdust rained down while the higher branches crashed down across the path.

"Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry!"

Sakura peeked her head back around the trunk warily. Her senses were on high alert now, as they should have been the entire time. She'd gotten too comfortable on her walk to the training grounds and hadn't noticed that she had actually managed to stumble across some of the very genin she was supposed to be looking for in the first place. Amidst all of the splintered wood was a boy with a hitae-ate tied securely around his left sleeve.

"My paper bomb went way too far, Sakura-sensei! My aim was off, and I didn't know anyone was out here besides us!"

Sakura smiled gently at the genin in front her, it wasn't as if he'd actually come close to hurting her anyway. If anything, he'd made her job easier at this point. At least she wouldn't have to actually look for a squad anymore, this kid had found her and finished that particular task on her behalf. She remembered him vaguely from the academy, on one of the occasions she'd been called in to demonstrate for the class. Sakura held it as a point of pride that Iruka-sensei kept asking her back to help teach the finer points of chakra control and manipulation; nothing gave her a feeling of self-satisfaction like being recognized for her talents and hard work.

"Don't worry about it," she said with a cheery smile. She'd probably have to dodge some more badly-aimed weapons before the week was through, anyway. "I'm actually here on the Hokage's orders. Tsunade-sama wanted me to see how her favorite genin teams were doing with their training."

"Oh! Sure! Sensei's out here with us to train, follow me!" Like most kids, he was nearly out of his skin with excitement at the idea of someone  _new_ around the training pitch. Sakura could remember all too easily how bored she used to get on these same training grounds after spending two days running and hiding through the brush.

"Which…team are you on exactly?" she asked, following through the trees. He hurled along at a breakneck speed, barely allowing her to keep up.

"Team 4! We've already been on three missions, even if one was just rescuing a cat from the woods. It really seemed like that cat needed to be rescued from that crazy old lady, though."

Sakura wracked her brain, trying to think of who was assigned to mentor this year's Team 4. It couldn't be Shikamaru; she did remember that he'd managed to end up with a squad of all girls. The academy had had a record number of female graduates that year. It was perfectly likely that she'd organized the team herself and just forgotten the second she gave the paperwork over to Tsunade, making it even more annoying that she couldn't remember who it was.

But as she and the young genin broke through the tree line and Sakura's eyes landed on the figure currently under a barrage of young feet and fists, she wasn't surprised that she'd completely forgotten who ran this particular team.

* * *

_Sakura did not usually do things like this. Sure, she enjoyed hanging out with her friends, but she wasn't generally acting as Ino's support man in a carefully designed operation to get Shikamaru's undivided attention. She wasn't generally all dolled up to the nines like this, having to use way more of her shinobi training to totter along in these borrowed heels than she would really like to admit._

" _Ino, is this_ really  _necessary?" Sakura whined. Managing her way through the village streets in these shoes wasn't exactly how she had wanted to spend her evening._

" _Yes, Sakura! I'm telling you! I barely managed to get Shikamaru to come to this party at all! I've spent the last week getting Choji and Naruto to think it was their idea to have the party in the first place! Even if it just a bar! They were supposed to get everybody there, so it's not weird, and you're there to make sure nobody else gets in the way!" Ino's strides were stronger and surer than Sakura's in the dusty village streets, surer in her high heeled shoes._

" _Is it really worth it if you need to try this hard? Shouldn't it just happen if it's meant to be? And shouldn't I be allowed to show up in my normal clothes for a normal friendly gathering? Like a normal person?"_

" _You should, but you aren't. And get over it, Forehead! You look hot!"_

_Sakura heavily doubted that. She hadn't been as blessed as Ino in the breast department, and any gratuitous curves she could have developed were long since hardened into lean muscle by her rigorous training. Her icy blond hair floated down her back in a way that made Sakura feel thoroughly plain in comparison. Ino's dress was snug and black and velvety and…complemented her assets to their very best. She was dressed to impress, for damn sure. Sakura didn't even own anything so slinky and flattering, her own dress being something Ino had foisted on her with absolutely no sympathy. The forest green dress was silky, but a too loose around her chest and pulled slightly too taut around her hard-muscled hips and thighs. Sakura had to restrain herself from taking too long of a stride or risk popping the delicate seams that held the fabric against her thighs. She felt awkward and uncomfortable, and like she didn't pull off the look Ino had been hoping for._

" _I don't know…"_

" _Look Sa-ku-ra," Ino said, enunciating each syllable to emphasize her impatience. "I promise you look hot. But even if you didn't you aren't trying to pick anyone up, so does it really matter? You're here to make sure nobody else takes his attention for too long! C'mon, you know I'd do it for you if you asked." Ino chose not to mention that Sakura would almost certainly never ask, as she didn't exactly participate in the dating scene. Ino almost had a monopoly on the whole thing now, and Sakura didn't have the confidence to break into the market this late in the game. She didn't even think there were any cute, eligible, single boys left around, now that they had managed to survive into their twenties._

" _Ugh. Fine. But you owe me, Ino-pig."_

" _Great! Now let's go!"  
_

_Sakura let Ino drag her the rest of the way to the dimly lit but jovially loud shinobi bar in a dustier part of town. Even from the sidewalk, she could hear Naruto's obnoxious laughter rolling through the air inside, infectious with its excitement. Sakura couldn't help the smile that reached her face- she may be in a ridiculous outfit, but these were all of her dearest friends._

_Inside, Shikamaru leaned against a wall, looking thoroughly unimpressed with a beer loosely held in one hand. Naruto was to his left, already through at least one bottle of sake. The kyuubi's awesome healing powers didn't do anything to help metabolize alcohol, they had all long since learned. Naruto was known, on occasion, to destroy whole bars after a "friendly" round of arm wrestling with Rock Lee. Sakura could see that Choji and Naruto had more or less executed Ino's plan to its fullest extent, as she could recognize several people. Even Sai had shown up, probably after hours of begging from the orange fiend. He wasn't the most social of people, but Sakura was glad that at least this small effort to socialize had been made on his part. The recluse could use it almost as much as he could use some real sun. Choji was demolishing a platter of rice balls, sitting in a booth with Kiba and Shino, who seemed to be making some sort of bet of how long it would take him to finish. Even a few of their old sensei were there, if she could believe the green jumpsuit in a distant corner of the bar. Sakura supposed that made sense. Their old mentors would do the honor of arriving to "celebrate Shikamaru's first squad assignment as a jōnin" but they couldn't usually be pressed into drinking with their juniors. She couldn't help but wish that the old sensei would be a little more present, somehow._

_Ino almost immediately sauntered up to Shikamaru, Sakura well in tow. His eyes lazily slid from Naruto and towards the blonde, and Sakura was sure she saw the faintest glimmer of interest spark beneath his carefully controlled face. Maybe Ino wasn't doing something completely crazy with this after all then, Sakura thought, as his eyes dropped over Ino's chest for the smallest of a second._

Okay, definitely not crazy,  _her mind whispered, as her own stomach muscles clenched in response to that quick flash of desire that crossed his eyes. Plenty of boys looked at Ino like that, and it was recognizable now that Shikamaru had had a drink or two. Ino's plan had worked perfectly, with almost no one the wiser._

_Sakura took the opportunity to slip away towards the bar and order a drink, slinking away awkwardly in the strappy sandals Ino had forced her into. She could use some of that saké Tsunade was so privy to._

_Once she'd gotten her hands on her own porcelain vessel and cup, she visibly relaxed. She slipped into casual conversation with her friends, hours passing as they drank and reminisced about the times when they were the genin, getting assigned a jōnin leader for the first time._

" _We thought he was such an idiot! The eraser dropped right on his head the second he walked in! What kind of elite ninja falls for crap like that?" Naruto all but yelled across from her, while Sakura collapsed into breathless giggles against Hinata's side. Hinata politely covered her laughter with a ladylike hand in front of her face. They were a few rounds deep now, enjoying the sake to its fullest. Sai sat on Naruto's other side in the booth, stone-faced, but the mirth in his eyes and the slightest blush of red on his cheeks proved the joke, and the alcohol, had struck him too._

" _I thought I'd earned at least a little bit of your respect since then."_

_Both Naruto and Sakura's laughter died in their throats like crushed ants. Now it really was Hinata and Sai's turn to laugh, seeing Naruto and Sakura scared into silence as Kakashi himself approached from behind the boys' side of the booth. Sakura, only slightly buzzed, snapped to attention when she saw him. Old habits die hard for good students, and she was trained to respect her seniors. She moved so fast that the thin strap of her dress floated down off of her shoulder. She didn't notice how Kakashi's one visible eye followed her fingertips as they brushed the fine silk cord back into its proper place on her pale shoulder._

" _How do we respect someone who is constantly nose-deep in erotica?" Sakura asked sarcastically. She only half-meant it though. As a kid, his constant reading had been the single most annoying thing she'd ever dealt with. Now, she appreciated that he actually_ read  _anything at all, unlike most of the men she knew. Not to mention that she'd broken down and read Icha Icha out of curiosity. The old sage Jiraiya wouldn't be winning any awards any time soon, true, but he was gifted as far as writers go. Sakura usually finished the books in one sitting, captivated and flushed as she took in everything on the pages. She couldn't exactly fault him for it anymore, but she definitely wouldn't be caught dead reading it in public the way he did._

_However, he wasn't aware of any of that, and his eye sharpened its focus on her just slightly._

" _I could beat all of you in battle, no matter what I'm nose-deep in." His tone was joking, but something about the gaze he had locked onto Sakura with was just serious enough to catch her attention, although it still left her confused. Something in her belly responded to it, and without thinking, she issued her former mentor a challenge._

" _I bet you can't beat me at arm wrestling, Kakashi-sensei," she said teasingly, lips spreading back dangerously over her teeth. A chorus of mocking "Ooooos" floated into the air around them as the crowd quieted and watched the two of them lock eyes. This wasn't the first time she'd challenged a fellow shinobi to arm wrestle, or even the first time she'd challenged Kakashi himself. The crowd knew they were being served some free entertainment and watched expectantly. Sakura was confident in her strength and ability to beat him, but something about the mocking crowd and sharp look in his eye sped up the nervous pace of her heart. She could admit that she may have misjudged and made a teensy tiny mistake._

" _Hm…Challenge accepted."_

_Naruto scrambled out of the booth, shoving Sai off the vinyl as he cleared the space for Kakashi. Hinata followed suit, giving Sakura room to ground herself. She was just a little dizzy from her sake and decided to remove Ino's ridiculous sandals as to ground her feet onto the floor firmly. As she planted her feet into their stance, she felt the smallest pop of thread against her left hip as her muscles strained against the unforgiving stretch of silk. She figured Ino's dress was a worthwhile sacrifice in the name of dignity._

_Sakura's knuckles cracked threateningly as the world-renowned Copy Nin took the seat across from her. Her goading smile was met with a humored gaze from Kakashi's one visible eye. He didn't take the precautions Sakura had, and she realized that he thought she was much more hindered by alcohol than she really was. He didn't think she was sober enough to still manipulate her chakra as usual, and as she realized that fact her smile brightened even more. If he had dropped his guard that much, he was probably just as inebriated as she was._

_They both rooted their elbows firmly on the table. Kakashi's gloved hand closed all the way around Sakura's smaller, naked one. The grip was strong and warm, and Sakura wondered if maybe she was unwarranted in her confidence._

" _Okay! Three!"_

_After all, he was one of Konoha's most feared and elite shinobi. He'd trained her, he'd trained Naruto and Sasuke, and none of them were threats to be taken lightly._

" _Two!"_

_His hand squeezed around hers, and her unfocused gaze in his direction quickly centered onto his eyes in response. She squeezed back, threateningly, shooting him a smirk she felt being mirrored back under the black mask that clung so deliciously to his strong jawline-_

_Wait._ Deliciously? Did she just think of Kakashi-sensei as delicious?

" _One!"_

_In her surprise, she threw a lot more force behind her arm than she initially meant to. Kakashi held his own for about a second before Sakura overwhelmed him. The back of his hand smashed through the wood table, and both of them tipped over to the floor with the force of her fist._

_Even as everyone around them erupted in cheers, Sakura's face blanched as she heard and felt another soft pop pop pop along her hip._

_She stood up stiffly, trying to keep her legs as close together and level as possible. If the seam of her dress ripped any higher, most of the bar would see the thong Sakura had been forced into ("No panty lines, Sakura. Absolutely not!") by Ino. She couldn't hold back the smile though, as she leaned to offer a hand to Kakashi, using the other to hold her ripped skirt in place. He was smiling sheepishly, after all, nobody in the establishment had ever expected Kakashi to have a chance in hell of winning. They also hadn't expected for her to absolutely destroy one of the roughhewn tables, but that was neither here nor there._

_She grasped Kakashi's arm and pulled him up, noticing the strained pop of his wrist as she did so._

_Well, oops._

" _Oh god, Kakashi-sensei I'm so sorry, you need to let me heal that for you right now-"_

_Sakura's apologies and the laughter of everyone around them was cut short when the owner began yelling over all of their voices, something about getting that pink-haired menace out of his dignified establishment. Sakura had to bite back peals of laughter as he approached._

" _Now, now, it's my fault, of course," Kakashi began to interject, causing the owner to whirl around and demand to know just_ how  _he planned to compensate him for his table. "Ah, yes about that. Well, in fact, it just so happens that…"_

_POOF!_

_The owner's jaw dropped, aghast as Kakashi seemed to disappear into literal smoke. Tears pooled in Sakura's eyes and a snort escaped her nose as she tried and failed to check her laughter. Skipping out in the middle of being asked to pay for something was a very Kakashi-sensei thing to do. And it was about to be a very Sakura thing to do if she didn't make her way out of there very quickly._

_Sakura glanced at Ino, who was very busy with Shikamaru's attention by now. She'd never notice that Sakura was slipping out on her own, and that suited Sakura just fine._

_Sakura was still barefoot when she exited into the fresh night air, but she wasn't bothered. It was better than the shoes…which were abandoned somewhere among a couple dozen drunk shinobi._

_Oh well. Couldn't be helped._

_The night air leaked its way through her dress, cupping her skin and making her shiver. It was cooler outside, free from the heavy warmth of a crammed building. Sakura began to hum quietly to herself as she started the walk home._

" _You shouldn't walk around alone at night. Could be dangerous, you know."_

" _Anyone who thinks about being a danger to me should just ask you how well that would go over," Sakura said with a smile. For a moment, she was speaking to herself, replying to an invisible voice in the air. Then with a small pop and puff of smoke, Kakashi appeared in front of her, leaning against a dim streetlight as she got closer to him._

" _I meant dangerous for whoever it is you stumble into, obviously. You're the scariest thing on these streets." Kakashi's tone was light, joking with her, and Sakura smiled in response._

" _That's me, bad to the bone. Now let me see your arm."_

_The two fell into step next to each other, a comfortable pace set by years of traveling together on missions. They had worked together more often than many of the others; Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai weren't exactly normal shinobi after all, and much of a ninja's work had to be done discreetly._

_Kakashi held out his right hand to Sakura, pulling out Icha Icha with his left. His face betrayed no hints of pain as Sakura slipped off his glove and rolled the joints of his wrist tentatively. She took the opportunity to trace her fingertips along the defined muscles of his forearm, under the guise of inspecting the injury. The "delicious" thought from before was still rolling around in her brain, trying to find somewhere to land. The more she thought about it, the more she could see where such an unexpected thought had come from. It was pretty much accepted throughout the Leaf that Kakashi was an exceptionally attractive man. Sakura assumed that as a grown woman, she had just begun to agree._

_Completely objectively, of course._

" _Oh hell, I did more damage than I meant to. I thought you would hold up better against me than this," Sakura said._

" _I thought I would too," he replied. If his voice seemed thicker than usual, more strained, Sakura didn't notice. She had brought them to a stop and stepped off to the side of the main street, having found it necessary to focus more seriously on his wrist. Kakashi leaned back against a nearby wall, letting Sakura grasp his wrist in both hands and concentrate while he watched her._

_Sakura's eyes slid closed as her consciousness flowed along her chakra network. Her hands began to glow a soft green, emitting an effervescent hum that could not be heard, but that Kakashi could feel reverberating into his own chakra network and along the wrenched bone and muscle of his wrist. Sakura did not see but felt her chakra mesh around Kakashi's bone and knit the cells back into place._

_Sakura retreated her chakra, and it flowed out of Kakashi's palm like cool water back into her own skin. Her fingers gently probed the muscle again, rolling the wrist one, two, three times, checking that all was in working order. For some reason, she was forgetting to let go of Kakashi's hand. Probably because it was so much warmer than the night air that curled around her own skin._

_Her fingers just kept trailing delicately over his exposed knuckles._

" _It's ripped."_

" _Huh?" Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice, and his hand fell from her grasp. His hand dropped, almost in slow motion, to the ripped seam of Sakura's dress. She had completely forgotten that she'd popped the hem, and as she'd walked with Kakashi the split had only unraveled higher and higher. The split rode high on her hip, just barely revealing the milky slope hip meeting thigh. The tips of Kakashi's fingers ghosted over the exposed skin, stopping when they touched the taut black lace of Sakura's thong. Sakura seemed to be watching from outside of her body as they rested there, almost lazily. Then Kakashi did the unthinkable, so slowly he barely seemed to be in control of his hands at all._

_His fingers curled around the elastic, a simple pull and release._

_Sakura's thong snapped back against her skin with a sharp_ thwack. _The sensation of it ignited molten lava deep in the pit of her belly. Instinctively Sakura pushed her hips forward, positioning herself flush against Kakashi, one of his knees between both of hers. With his back flat against the wall, her body pushed into his in a way that made her knees buckle. His skin was so much warmer than the night air, his body firm and tight and_ hard _in all the right places. His hand was still on her hip, it was moving, it was gripping her ass and pushing her harder against him. Sakura's hips rolled down against his, and she released a breathy moan into his ear. With his free hand, he gripped a handful of her silky pink locks and forced her head back. At first, she couldn't understand why, until the divine and wholly unexpected sensation of Kakashi-sensei's_ bare lips  _against the base of her throat_   _drove the warm pulse between her legs into a scream._

_Sakura barely registered the sound of the dress's seam ripping even more as Kakashi's hand slipped between the lace of her panties and her hypersensitive skin._

" _Ah, fuck, Sakura…" he managed to say, the words falling out of his throat rougher than gravel, as his fingers met with wet, hot skin that clenched dizzyingly in response._

_Sakura's breath was ragged as she dragged air into her lungs, all of her muscles tightening into a frenzied ball at the base of her body, right beneath Kakashi's fingers. Sakura's head was swimming deliciously, begging for more, overwhelmed with the smell of sake and ginger root. She couldn't get enough. One of her hands clenched into a fist in his silver hair, the other had found its way under the hem of his shirt to feel the hard, defined muscles of Kakashi's abs and hip, dangerously close to the throbbing erection she felt against her stomach._

" _Ka- Kakashi-sensei-"_

_And then as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. Her body felt freezing in the sudden absence of Kakashi's body heat, the night air whipping the split silk hem back and forth and allowing the cold to settle uncomfortably on the wetness that dripped between her thighs._

" _What?"_

_Sakura was stunned and spun in a confused circle. She was completely alone in the dark street now, with only the whistle of the wind keeping her company._

" _Excuse me?!" Sakura groaned, glaring accusingly down both directions of the shadowy street._

 _Whatever…_ that  _was that had happened, had stopped with as little notice as it had begun. She didn't exactly have the most experience with anything like this, but she assumed that being literally left out in the cold was not the ideal end. Ideally, she would be being pinned against this wall, still riding the waves of pleasure Kakashi sent rolling through her hips._

" _ASSHOLE!" She shouted, directing one last frustrated insult to the shapeless darkness of her surroundings, before turning to huff her way back home, too annoyed to bother holding the edges of her dress together._

_A single, tired gray eye followed her from the shadowy roofs as she walked away._

* * *

Sakura's stomach flip-flopped when she realized that it was Kakashi in the center of the training field. The obnoxiously bright Icha Icha cover flashed in and out of sight as he maneuvered around the two students attacking him. He never looked up from the pages as he gracefully flitted in and out of sight, deflecting and tripping them at every turn.

"I'll tell him you're here! KAKASHI-SENSEI, YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHO'S HERE!" The boy leaped right into the scuffle with a loud yell before Sakura had the chance to grab his collar and tell him no thank you, not today, she did not have the energy to deal with any of this right now and she would very much like to try again tomorrow morning, please.

Sakura's face began to burn as the jōnin in question stopped his teaching and turned to face her.


	2. Battle Tactics

_Warning: Some gore and violence. But that's what shinobi are all about, right?_

* * *

Sakura wasn't sure whether it was rage or embarrassment coloring her cheeks. Either way she just wished it would stop. At least six months had passed since she had last seen her old sensei, and the pounding headache she had woken up with the next morning had not done the favor of erasing the memory.

When she had woken up that morning, she had tried to convince herself it had all been her imagination. That the ripped silk dress draped accusingly over her dresser was not actually ripped savagely to the waist. That someone had played a prank on her and had taken on the Copy Nin's face with a very thorough transformation jutsu. But Sakura knew Kakashi's bones as well as her own by now, and the electrifying sensation of her chakra flowing into his to channel her healing jutsu was not something she could deny remembering.

Sakura wasn't sure which part of the whole thing confused her most. Was it that he had touched her, or that he had stopped so suddenly and disappeared into the night? Or was it how much she had liked it?

She shook her head in a completely useless attempt to clear the thoughts from her mind. Sakura trained her face into a polite smile, but there was still a stressful edge to the curve of her lips.

Kakashi's face seemed completely neutral as they faced each other, in the split second before a shuriken impacted his right temple.

_POOF!_

A dry log fell to the ground.

"Damn it!" One of the three genin, a young brunette girl named Miki that Sakura recognized, pouted angrily. "I thought we'd finally catch him off guard when you showed up, Haruno-sensei." She looked at Sakura with a nearly murderous glance, upset that her training had been so rudely interrupted, and not even to her advantage. She quickly pulled another stack of shuriken from her holster, ready for offense.

"Shinobi basics: Never be caught off guard." Kakashi's voice surrounded the three kids and Sakura in the otherwise empty field. Sakura rolled her eyes as the genin looked around wildly. She held her impulse to split the earth open and ruin his "lesson" in check, but barely.

"Earth style! Headhunter jutsu!"

Miki let out a strangled scream as her body was dragged into the dirt, shuriken tumbling lamely to the ground.

Kakashi strolled up to the small group from seemingly nowhere, completely unphased, Icha Icha open in his hand. The very picture of cool detachedness.

"I'm convinced you only do that because you think it's funny," Sakura said, watching Miki yell at the two boys trying to dig her out.

"Just because it's hilarious doesn't mean it isn't important. Teaching isn't exactly a lucrative profession. I have to find some benefits, at least."

His reply was just as cool and unaffected as the eye that remained focused on the book in hand.

_And what kinds of benefits would those be, sensei? I could offer some really good ones…_

Sakura shook her head again and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to clear her head of these incredibly awkward and intrusive thoughts.

"Lady Tsunade has me making the rounds with the genin teams this week. She thinks they all could use some brushing up on chakra control."

"Why Sakura, I'm offended. I taught you chakra control, does she not trust me?" Sakura could just barely hear the smile in his voice as he spoke, eyes still glued to paper as Sakura continued to watch Miki and the boys scramble out of the ground.

"You said it yourself, teaching isn't exactly lucrative. Maybe you're getting soft in your old age."

The sound of a book snapping closed drew Sakura's eyes back around to Kakashi's face. His visible eye was narrowed at her. She had successfully poked his buttons. Annoying him was a small victory after the embarrassment in the alley, something she was still determined to get an explanation for.

"First of all, I am not getting soft," he said defensively, almost too defensively, slipping the slim orange book back into the bag on his waist.

His three trainees saw this, and immediately noticed the shift in the air. The grins growing on their faces were borderline hysterical. Watching Konoha LEGENDS spar? They could already imagine the looks on their friends' faces as soon as they gathered around the old academy swing set later that night, drawing out every detail for maximum effect.

Sakura felt it too, and let a smirk grow on her own face. This was a chance for a little bit of revenge if nothing else. Yet it also helped relax the tension she felt around him- sparring on this field, just a few feet away from the row of three gnarled stumps, felt familiar and normal. She felt her body raring for the challenge, knuckles cracking menacingly in preparation.

"Second, I am not  _old_."

Kakashi's stance seemed just as relaxed as ever, but Sakura could detect his weight shifting forward on his feet, ready to move, arms poised to attack. As she scrutinized him, she saw him reading her body movements just as closely.

Suddenly Sakura was very aware of how tight her shorts were, and how much they showed without her usual skirt buckled in place over it.

_Shit. Can he see my underwear?_

Kakashi lunged at Sakura head on. She dodged right, fist swiping at his midsection with devastating force. With a jump, he neatly avoided her attack. His foot connected solidly with her abdomen from midair, forcing the air out of her lungs in a hard  _whoosh_. Managing to stay upright, Sakura latched onto ankle and calf with chakra-charged hands so he couldn't escape her grip. With a powerful heave, she slammed his body into the ground. The clearing erupted, a shallow chasm cracking 20 feet across the area. The leg in her hands exploded into a shower of woodchips. Sakura whirled around, glowing fists raised in front of her chest. Her eyes flitted back and forth, searching for the mop of unruly silver hair.

Suddenly she felt a yank on the back of her vest, sending her flying backward into the tree line. Her back connected with a massive trunk, making an impressive boom echo through the area. Sakura scrambled to her feet, glaring at Kakashi, who still stood in the trench of pulverized earth. Sakura's eyes closed in concentration, body and mind moving as one, as quickly as possible. In the fraction of a second it took her to connect her fist with the ground, her senses channeled along her chakra network, through her fist and into the sandy dirt. Webbing through the soil, the pulse was literally earth shattering.

Sakura had released her chakra as a fine-tuned burst, but she could still just barely sense it as an extension of herself as it liquefacted most of the earth in a 10-yard radius. A shit eating grin spread across her face as Kakashi sunk into the unexpected quicksand. Just as quickly, the earth settled back into a solid, reasonable state. He disappeared up to his midchest but managed to keep his arms free. Sakura leapt as he freed himself, having finally slowed him down enough to attack. He was faster, but she was considerably stronger.

Kakashi grunted when she hit her mark, toppling the both of them to the ground. They rolled over, each trying to wrestle the other into face-down submission. Sakura spat out a mouthful of grass, yelling with a mix of frustration and effort like a personal war cry. Her legs wrapped around Kakashi's chest, using her body weight to throw herself back on top of him and yanking his mask up over his eyes and headband. She laughed, even as he threw her off and to his side. A cheap shot, but an effective one. She was still laughing as he sat up, carefully readjusting his mask and headband to their proper positions.

"That means I won! I beat you!" She yelled triumphantly, throwing her arms in the air while the three genin cheered adoringly from a nearby tree. Her heart was racing from the exertion, and she let herself collapse on her back in the cool grass. Sweat was beading in her hairline and running down her neck in a way that made her long for the icy cold shower in her apartment, but Sakura couldn't deny that she had had fun.

"Pulling something over my eyes doesn't count as winning, technically."

"Shinobi have the pleasure of fighting dirty; whatever it takes to finish the mission. In this case, I finished by blinding you with your mask. Work smarter, not harder," Sakura said, rolling her head to the side to look in his direction.

She was caught slightly off guard by his gaze. He was readjusting his hitae-ate still and had yet to cover his sharingan. Both dark, liquid eyes were pouring over the tight curve of Sakura's thigh in the spandex shorts as she splayed her legs. It was only for a brief moment, so fast Sakura thought she must have imagined it.

Kakashi stood and offered her a hand. For a moment, a mirror image danced back across her mind, of her reaching out to help him after throwing him to the ground of a dirty bar. As she took his hand, the smallest static shock zapped into her palm, causing her eyes to widen with surprise. Kakashi didn't acknowledge it in the slightest.

"Somebody's going to have to go tell Yamato he has to clean up a mess on aisle 3." Kakashi said dismissively, as he began to walk away from the scene of the crime. The genin jumped down to follow him obediently, far more reverent than Team 7 had ever bothered to be. They were whispering excitedly back and forth as they scampered after their teacher.

Although, secretly Sakura supposed it was her and her teammates' success that had earned him some of that respect. Students were only as good as their teachers after all.

Sakura didn't bother to follow them, choosing instead to sit back down in the demolished field. She thought she may as well wait for Yamato to arrive and apologize for constantly making him rebuild whole forests on her behalf.

The sun shone comfortably on her skin, lulling her into a content daze. Silence fell for several minutes, until the birds returned to the nearby trees to sing again for Sakura. That had been an excellent display of chakra control and could count as her work for today. At least, that's what she would tell Tsunade on the report next week. For now, she wanted to relax in the luxurious warmth of the sun.

As the sun soaked into her skin, her mind wandered.

Sparring with Kakashi was a familiar, welcome feeling. She was always contentedly sore afterwards, and she enjoyed the rare challenge to her speed and ability. But the static she felt between their hands, that was new. It electrified her, a tingle traveling along her nerves until it reached her core. Sakura thought about her takedown, how she had straddled him while blinding him. Just seeing the barest sliver more of his nose than usual had been enough to shock her in the moment, but she had been all too aware of how broad his chest had been underneath her open legs. He had grabbed her by the waist when throwing her off of him, and his hands had felt massive on each side of her ribcage. The warmth of them still seemed to be sinking into her top.

All at once, Sakura felt too hot, and yanked open the zipper of her red vest. She took several deep breaths as the air cooled the hot, sweaty skin of her chest and stomach. Her sports bra was going to smell disgusting after this, but she honestly couldn't find the will to care at the moment. She had been plagued by thoughts of Kakashi since that night in the alley. Sparring had relieved some of the tension she felt, but the electricity she had felt at that last second still coursed through her.

Sakura scrambled to her feet, too flustered to sit around in the clearing anymore. If she stayed any longer, Yamato would show up while she had her hand between her thighs. Not bothering to close her vest, she started towards home at a blinding speed.

* * *

Sakura's hair was piled lazily on her head as her shoulders sunk into the hot water of the bath. Bubbles tickled her lips until she blew them away with a frustrated huff. Leaning her head back over the edge of the porcelain tub, she traced her hands over her skin underwater. Her thighs were still sore from being spread in the air for so long earlier, as her fingers had plunged in and out of her slick entrance, clit throbbing under her thumb until she came, moaning her old sensei's name into her pillow.

Why did seeing Kakashi, why did him  _touching_  her make her react like this?

The past few years, working as a chūnin had seen her take on more advanced, dangerous missions. Sakura had more than proved her worth as a kunoichi, crafting her reputation tirelessly. Once known as boy-crazy and ditzy, she was now known instead for her prowess as a medic-nin and ability to level a city block with one punch. When she was feeling just a little egotistical, Sakura liked to imagine that her name graced a few bingo books for being such a serious threat.

Proving your worth to the Hokage meant you received higher-ranked, better-paying missions. Higher-ranked missions meant being assigned to higher-ranked teams. Higher-ranked teams, in this village, often meant you ended up with Kakashi Hatake.

Sakura and Kakashi were a formidable pair. Both were dangerous, and every time Kakashi pushed himself too far, Sakura made sure the idiot didn't die in the middle of nowhere.

* * *

The first mission they had gone on together, Kakashi had, as expected, gone overboard.

They had finally defeated the enemy, but he had fallen from the roof of a building, worn out after battle. Sakura had watched him to right himself, only for his sandal to bust on landing.

Her stomach lurched watching his body tumble one way and his leg another. There was a sickening crack as the jagged edge of his broken tibia forced its way through skin and clothing. She could only assume the force of the impact had dislocated either his knee or hip as his guttural scream echoed through the area. Sakura had leaped after him, heart pounding with alarm. Even from midair, she could see blood flowing from his leg, pooling under him. If he went into shock, they would be well and truly fucked.

She landed next to him, thoughts racing. Ideally, she would treat his injuries immediately, moving him as little as possible. Realistically, she could not be sure that every foe in the area had been killed. Risk dictated that they move, and quickly.

Clearly, he couldn't move an inch on his own. He released another strained groan from between clenched teeth.

"Sakura, you can't stay here, you know that."

"Neither can you, sensei, but your leg- "

"You can leave me, Sakura. You need to go, and now!"

Sakura cracked her knuckles in his face. Threatening someone so injured was a terrible bedside manner, but  _some_ patients were notoriously difficult.

"Kakashi Hatake," she growled, looking levelly in his two exposed eyes to impart just how serious she was, "If you suggest that I  _leave you_   _to die_ one more time, I will heal your leg so badly you never walk again. Those who leave their friends behind are worse than scum.  _You_ taught me that, sensei. You will not convince me to leave you. Now, this is going to hurt, but please, please trust me. I'm going to take care of you."

"I- fine. But hurry Sakura."

Sakura ripped open his pant leg, moving quickly. The gore was almost commonplace to her by now, and with a practiced hand, she shoved the protruding bone back into the skin.

Kakashi's throat almost tore with the force of his scream.

Ripping a section of bloody cloth from his pants, she fashioned two tourniquets, one around his thigh to staunch the bleeding, and one to hold together the open wound. A quick stitch of chakra laced the skin together superficially, just enough for her to risk picking him up. Every second they wasted, Kakashi inched closer to severe infection or hypovolemic shock. The skin of his face, that she could actually see, had paled significantly already.

Sakura carefully gathered him to her arms, thankful for her augmented strength. It was awkward as she tried to avoid jostling his injured leg. He was way too tall for her to move smoothly, but she had no choice.

She raced away from the compound they had been sent to, into the trees and out of sight. The two of them needed to be much, much further away before she could handle this injury properly.

They were a mile or two away before Sakura felt a safe enough distance away to stop. She laid Kakashi carefully on the ground. His skin was clammy, and his body temperature had dropped at least two degrees. The triage she had done had stopped the blood from pouring out of his body and leaving a trail, but the internal bleeding was persistent and severe. His tibial vein had probably torn, and every pump of his heart poured more blood into the cavities of his leg, causing gross swelling and blackish bruising. She checked his pulse, weak and thready.

"Kakashi-sensei? Can you hear me?"

"Mmm…" his response was thin and unintelligible, but she heard it nonetheless. A good sign.

She laid her hands on Kakashi's leg, her hands slipping a little on the drying blood. The bruising was grotesque.

Sakura's eyes closed, as her consciousness sunk into her body, racing along her chakra network like the blood in her madly pumping veins.

Her chakra passed from the pads of her fingers and into the swelling, purple skin of Kakashi's lower leg. It was like cold water, soothing the inflammation everywhere it reached. Sakura felt the destroyed muscle fibers of his calf knit themselves together. It was visceral, stitching the striated muscle together, but the sickening sounds of bone crunching beneath were worse. Repairing the fracture took effort, as Sakura sped Kakashi's body through the healing process. She could feel the threads of bone growing around the fracture, until it was as strong as before. Sakura's final concern was the blood loss. He had lost at least two pints before she had applied the tourniquet, and she had no idea how much more had leaked inside of his body.

Using the last of the energy she could afford to spare, she dived her healing chakra deep into Kakashi's bones, isolating the stem cells deep in the marrow. Sakura forced them to mature, replenishing the injured shinobi's blood supply with young red blood cells.

Beads of sweat pooled on her forehead. She retreated her chakra from his skin. Kakashi's exposed leg was slightly red and swollen, but otherwise perfect. The nearly life-threatening injury was completely healed.

Sakura pressed her fingers against the Copy-Nin's throat, body sagging with relief when she felt his strong, sure pulse. He was going to be perfectly fine.

* * *

Sakura's fingers rose from the surface of the water so she could inspect her fingers. These fingers had healed Kakashi's broken bones probably hundreds of times in the past three years. These fingers had already touched most of his body, but it had always been purely clinical. Now that they had been buried in his hair, while his fingers had been buried in  _her_ , she was in serious distress.

After that night in the alley, Kakashi had started avoiding her. Suddenly, no more missions came through for the two of them, even though they were one of the most accomplished teams the Leaf had seen in a long time. Tsunade had brushed it off at first, but after a while, she had refocused Sakura's responsibilities to the hospital to try and get her mind off of it. Tsunade didn't know why it was happening, but her soft spot for Sakura ached at seeing her feel so ignored.

The only thing she knew to do was to have Sakura prioritize her time to the hospital, and not think about the missions she wasn't getting with Kakashi. Meanwhile, Sakura had stewed in her insecurity.

It wasn't even so much that Kakashi had more or less rejected her mid-orgasm. That was…awkward, to say the least, but she guessed she could understand. She wasn't exactly sexy, and most of her sexual experiences were somewhat disappointing. What truly  _stung_ was his outright refusal to be around her afterwards. To even refuse to work with her on missions meant that her skill was not enough for him to get over whatever it was that had happened. Sakura thought she had proved herself enough by now to show that she was a good kunoichi, a good partner. She had saved his life so many times that half of them weren't even on record. To have been ignored and forgotten hurt worse than being rejected.

Even Sasuke leaving had not been so painful. He had never really been friendly, complimented her for her achievements, never made her feel like she was powerful, never saw her as an adequate teammate. Sasuke had left her, sure, but so had Naruto. Tsunade had helped her channel through some of the pain, training her within an inch of her life. Kakashi had shouldered her through the rest, a consistent and familiar presence over almost half of her life. Some of his face was a mystery, but that one grey eye had been a rock in her life for a decade. For him to be ignoring her, invalidated all of the pride she had developed in herself. If she had not proved her worth enough to work with him, and for Tsunade to agree to it, it made her heart ache.

And despite that, her body sill raged whenever she imagined Kakashi's large warm hands on either side of her chest, fingers spreading across her skin and sliding down, down, down to her hips…one holding her while the other nestled between her wet thighs to fondle her swollen clit, rough fingers moving in and out-

Sakura's head snapped to attention when she heard a sharp, no-nonsense knock from her front door. Years of experience told her that a mission scroll was waiting at her front door. In a flash, she was out of the tub and wrapped in a fluffy robe and slippers to answer the door.

"Haruno-san, the Hokage requests you report to her immediately for assignment."

"Understood. Thank you, Moriki-san. Have a good rest of your night."

Sakura smiled at the tired-looking man in front of her. He had surely just come from Tsunade's office, and though it wasn't particularly late, he looked exhausted. Hopefully he was heading home, and hopefully, this didn't mean she was heading into some sort of disaster at mission control.

Sakura closed her front door after Moriki departed with a polite goodbye. She cursed inwardly when she realized she'd forgotten to do her laundry somewhere between her frenzied masturbation session and bubble bath. Digging through her drawers, she managed to find an extra pair of durable, shinobi-designed shorts, but all of her usual suitable clothing was still soiled or in desperate need of repair.

She turned instead to her closet, with a frustrated glance at her alarm clock. Immediately generally meant "why weren't you here five minutes ago" to Lady Tsunade, but Sakura assumed being in the bath at the time of assignment was as good an excuse as any.

A pile of generally untouched shinobi clothing laid on a shelf in Sakura's closet, various things Ino had gotten her to buy in a vain attempt to change things up. Inside of a sleek, if dusty, plastic tote, Sakura found a forest green qipao, with a soft grey lining, but sturdy enough for her use. Sakura shrugged into it and deemed it appropriate. The hem was short enough not to get in her way, and the cut of the hips allowed her to fasten her hip pouch and medical supplies comfortably in place. Sakura saw in her mirror that the Leaf symbol was stitched onto her back in the same grey felt as the lining, respectably subtle for shinobi dress.

Sakura  _tch_ ed, a little disappointed at the lack of her signature red. But she guessed, looking at her reflection, that it wasn't really half bad. The slit hips of the qipao accentuated her hips more than usual, and the color made her eyes brighter and hair pinker.

Just because she was a practical kunoichi didn't mean she couldn't look good. Ino said as much constantly, always adjusting her skirt just so- revealing long and sensual legs, and hiding a holster that held three deadly kunai in the best position for Ino's immediate and lethal use.

"I take both parts of the phrase 'femme fatale' very seriously, Sakura," Ino liked to tell her when they were shopping. There was no use being deadly if you only drove every warm body away. Perfectly honed bodies should be put to use.

Sakura adjusted the dress just a little around her chest, then darted out of her apartment. Locking the front door and leaving a note on her neighbors' door ( _Hi Ms. Kobayashi, I've been called away, please make sure nobody breaks in, I'll make cookies as soon as I get back!")_ , she made her way to the Hokage's tower.


	3. Assignment

_I would say things have been slow up to this point, and not a lot of anything but Sakura going down memory lane. I'm hoping this is the chapter where things really pick up, for all involved._

_Content: Sexually explicit_

* * *

Disaster at mission control was right.

When Sakura arrived at the Hokage tower, even at this late hour, almost every window was glowing. Silhouettes bustled back and forth behind the glass. A bead of sweat rolled down Sakura's temple as her heart picked up pace. Things didn't usually get this busy, and she couldn't take it as a good sign. Looking up, Sakura could see that Lady Tsunade's windows were open, and shinobi were flitting in and out, not even bothering to use the steps inside.

She jumped to the roof, sandals landing lightly on the corrugated roof. Bracing her weight against the side of the window, Sakura hopped through the open frame and into the ruckus.

People scuttled in and out of Tsunade's office. Tsunade herself was crouched over in her chair, fingertips rolling over her temples. Sakura approached her directly, noting the sick shade of green her skin had turned. Personal bubble be damned, Sakura placed one hand on the back of her shishou's neck and poured the thinnest stream of healing chakra up through Tsunade's spine and across her pounding brain. Immediately, Tsunade relaxed, straightening and leaning her head back in relief.

Like a reflection of the Hokage herself, the office calmed. Sakura could assume Tsunade's attitude hadn't gotten better since that morning and pitied everyone who had been forced to stay around all day.

"Thank god for you, Sakura," Tsunade said, eyes still closed.

"Of course, my lady. Um, Moriki-san sent me for an assignment?"

Tsunade groaned, frustrated. Sakura may have cured her headache, but there were still major issues at hand. She leaned forward over her desk, crossing her hands pensively in front of her mouth. Tsunade's eyes focused on the scrolls strewn in front of her, mind working through several thoughts at once.

"We placed someone undercover. A long, long time ago. And now, things have come to a head when we were least prepared. We are in an emergency."

"An emergency?" Sakura's heart began to pump adrenaline, muscles preparing for battle.

"I need to send our operative back up. I've assembled a team to go in after him, with as much urgency as possible. S-class mission ranking at least. You are part of that team."

Sakura couldn't help but swell with a bit of pride hearing that. An urgent assignment for a high-class emergency and it included her? Excellent.

"Your teammates should be here soon. In fact, that's probably them right now- "

They both heard the pounding of footsteps in the hallway before the door slammed open and interrupted Tsunade's sentence. None other than Naruto Uzumaki was in the doorway. But who else would make such an entrance, honestly?

It was who was behind him that made Sakura's spine go bolt straight.

"You know, Naruto, the polite thing to do is knock." Kakashi didn't look up as he shouldered his way past Naruto and through the open door. His attention appeared fully on the book in hand, nonchalantly turning the page.

Naruto ignored him, instead marching forward and manhandling Sakura into a huge hug. She hugged him back, a relieved smile growing on her face to see him. Even if a certain, stressful Copy-Nin was in attendance. Sakura counted Naruto as one of her best friends and knowing that they would be working together brought some levity to the occasion.

"I'm just ready to start the mission, sensei. Can't blame a guy for liking his job," Naruto said with a smile, thumbing the hitae-ate on his forehead.

Tsunade huffed pointedly, drawing everyone's attention back to her.

"As I was  _saying._  You three will be going in to support an undercover agent. Years ago, we infiltrated a secret compound. This compound is run by a group of missing-nin, deep in the Land of Water. They work as mercenaries, but together they protect themselves from hunter-nin. Kirigakure asked for our help with this almost six years ago, but one of our own went undercover."

"Why not one of theirs?" Naruto asked.

"Our operative was…better suited for the role. Secrecy is of utmost importance here, so I won't reveal their identity to you just yet. They know you're coming, and should initiate contact with you, according to our prime strategy," Tsunade said, looking directly at Sakura.

"Prime strategy?"

"Yes. Our ideal plan is for one of you to infiltrate, quickly, and make contact. Then retreat, as undetected as possible. We do not need their hellfire raining down on the Leaf."

"My lady, if you say ideal plan…that must mean you're planning for something to go wrong. Is there a backup plan?" Sakura said, an edge of stress to her voice.

Tsunade's eyes connected with Sakura's, narrowed with deathly seriousness.

"The backup plan is to try not to die."

* * *

Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi lined up at the massive Konoha gates. They were equipped for several days travel, and laden with weaponry.

Sakura, who had arrived at Tsunade's office already prepared to leave, had stayed behind to receive instructions while Kakashi and Naruto prepared themselves for the mission.

Shizune had carefully ripped away the Leaf Village symbol on the back of Sakura's qipao as Tsunade explained. Naruto and Kakashi were, like Sakura, some of the most powerful and capable shinobi in the village. But Sakura was not so well-recognized. Tales of the dangerous pinkette did not circulate the way they did about the Copy Nin or the Kyuubi's jinchūriki. Tsunade planned to use this to their advantage. Sakura had a better chance of posing as a defecting nin than the other two. She alone had a chance of being believed if she posed as someone else.

The other two would join her on the journey but wait outside the compound as back up. If worst came to worst, they would come in to assist. Something between fear and pride curled in Sakura's chest at the thought of taking point on this mission. Her responsibilities were the most dangerous, but the most important.

Now that they were actually departing, Sakura's fists curled in determination. Her resolve strengthened. Though feelings of inadequacy still laid inside, they would not plague her mind today. And so, they set off to the Land of Water.

The three settled down to make camp in a cave after traveling through most of the chilly night. They had made it past the border of Fire country and stopped on an isolated island when dawn broke and a morning mist flooded. According to Leaf intelligence, the missing-nin compound was located an hour or so north-east of their location. Team Kakashi designated their small island as safely far enough away, but close enough to allow for them to rest and prepare for what lay ahead.

The three shinobi reclined around a crackling fire, three fish spitted across and filling the cave with the scent of crisping skin. Naruto was already asleep, and Sakura rolled her eyes. The years had done nothing for his god-awful snoring. Sakura often wondered how Hinata put up with it now that they were married, but she could admit at this moment that the noise could be comforting in a world that was sometimes eerie in its silence.

Sakura looked across the fire at Kakashi. He too looked asleep, but Sakura couldn't ever be sure. He might look asleep, with his jōnin vest off and fingers laced comfortably behind his neck, but he could fool people like that. He often appeared unconscious, only to be listening intently to everything around him. She traced her eyes along the line of his masked jaw. She remembered the sensation of his lips on her neck and wondered what they looked like. Sakura imagined they were soft and a pale shade of pink. She could picture them spreading in a predatory smile to reveal uniquely sharp canines, a mental image that caused her thighs to squeeze together unconsciously. Imagining a smile like that sparked dangerous ideas in the baser parts of her brain.

The team had been moving too quickly on their journey east to talk, which had suited Sakura just fine. She wasn't sure how to fill the silence between her and Kakashi right now, and Naruto's usual jabbering could only do so much to cut the tension.

But now that they were fed and resting, with Naruto out cold, the silence tugged at Sakura's nerves. If Kakashi was awake, this might be her only opportunity to try and bring up the issue between them. But did Sakura even want to bring it up? She was deeply embarrassed, and even if she wouldn't admit it, hurt. She might not be able to talk about it and hold her shit together long enough to carry out the mission.

Sakura sighed, and decided she wanted, no  _needed_ , to take a dip in the water outside to calm her jangling nerves. She stood quickly and took the fish off of the fire so they wouldn't burn. Then, tiptoeing carefully around the still-immobile Kakashi, she exited the cave.

The early morning sun filtered through the dense fog, but Sakura still had to rely mostly on her hearing to find her way to the sandy rocky shore of the island. She slipped down onto the protruding stones, finding a small alcove of the beach. The tiny square of sand was warmed by the water lapping at the edge, and if she crouched a little, the air was much warmer here than on the higher parts of the island.

Sakura peeled off her qipao, boots, and shorts, and untied the tough bandages around her breasts that were the standard kunoichi wear, laying them all on one of the nearby stones. She slipped into the water, laying just so, water lapping gently at her shoulders. She let her arms float lazily on the surface, hair splayed behind her in the gently towing tide.

She did not hear the steps that approached on the rocks overhead, or even when they landed softly in the sand just a foot behind her reclined head.

Kakashi stood there in silence, debating on whether to stay or to run. Invading Sakura's privacy like this was a serious risk, even if she would heal his fractured skull afterward. It wasn't like he had  _expected_  to find her laying in a hot spring, lounging naked like some sort of spring goddess, all legs and petal-pink nipples just visible under the water's surface. He had only followed her to tell her that it was too dangerous to go around by herself.

It wasn't like he  _meant_ to stand there, hypnotized as one of her gentle, deadly hands disappeared underwater, and the other began to play with her breast, gentle mewls dripping from her lips like the sweet pecan syrup on dango.

Sakura moaned in earnest, back arching and pushing her chest through the water, breasts glowing in the diffused morning sunshine.

Kakashi's gut tightened, watching her moan and writhe. Pressure mounted in his groin, blood rushing somewhere it was  _not_ supposed to around his very young, very beautiful former student.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Kakashi weighed his options; he could leave and pretend he never saw this, but she might hear or find out. If he let her know he was there, she would either kill him…or she could put him another very dangerous position. As he mulled over his thoughts, another breathy moan fell from the lips of the flower nymph in front of him.

He decided to let her know he was there.

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a loud, pointed sigh just behind her. Her eyes opened wide, meeting with Kakashi's single grey one. Her body clenched hard in surprise, forcing the fingers still inside of her deeper, and rolling her clit. She was pushed over the edge just as she met his gaze.

A savage moan rushed through her clenched teeth as she orgasmed, surprising them both. Kakashi's eye darkened and looked dead through her. For a few moments, she shook as pleasure waved through her muscles.

Then Sakura squeaked at her own raunchy display and yanked her knees to her chest, covering her face with her hands. She could feel the blush blazing its way across her cheeks and bare back, something Kakashi could most definitely see. She inched almost imperceptibly deeper into the water.

"I-um. Hi, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi tried to ignore the way his groin throbbed headily when she addressed him like that. He'd had to retire a few Icha Icha volumes from his collection, just because of the great detail of sensei-student roleplay Jiraiya had employed. It had made it too hard to keep it cool when he was around Sakura recently. Not that he'd need any of that fiction after what he had just seen.

"Yo, Sakura. I, ah, was going to tell you that it's not safe to be out here alone." His voice was thick, catching on the inside of his teeth.

She smiled just a little bit, despite the situation. "Anyone who thinks about being a danger to me should just ask you how well that would go over," she said, a wry smile on her lips. She wondered if he caught her reference. The surface of the water now lapped at Sakura's chin, cooling the blush of her skin.

"If anyone thinks about being a danger to you, I would kill them."

_Well._ That was certainly a different response than last time.

"Really?"

"Of course, Sakura. You are the strongest kunoichi of your generation, you are invaluable to the Leaf. And to all of your friends, your family, to me, you are irreplaceable."

Sakura's head turned in surprise to look at Kakashi, caught off guard by the strength behind his words. He was now squatted just behind her, looking into the mist and pointedly not at her. She had thought he'd been unimpressed by her growth, had dropped her out of boredom. A response like that proved her wrong. Sakura's heart lifted a little in her chest, knowing that her mentor did recognize her for her hard work. Knowing that this man truly cared for her as a person.

"Well, thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

They sat there, under the thickness of silence and mist. Sakura could not hear Kakashi's throat rasp when she addressed him as sensei, sitting there naked with wet, dewy skin and messy hair. Kakashi could not feel the way Sakura's stomach rolled as the scent of his skin flooded her senses with ginger root, a ball of pressure building deep in her gut as she leaned just the smallest bit closer. As if she could drown in it, in him.

Now would be as good a time as any to ask him about what had happened between them so many months ago.

"Um, sensei- "

"Don't call me that," he said gruffly, turning to face her fully. The words barely made it through the fabric of his mask.

"What? Why not?" she questioned, turning towards him. Sakura didn't take notice at first as the tide kept drawing out, pulling the water level beneath her shoulders and around her breasts as she drew her arms back down to her sides.

Kakashi tried, and failed, to keep his eyes above her thrillingly long neck. He was glad for his mask, as it hid his momentarily slack jaw. The drops of water slipping from the ends of her hair ran down her skin. Some collected in her collar bone, but the rest traveled down her chest, around one pink nipple in a trail Kakashi's eye followed hungrily before flicking back up and stonily over her shoulder.

Now  _that_ , Sakura noticed. She had seen the same look in plenty of men's eyes, but never when they were looking at her. Reflexively, Sakura curled her arm around her chest to cover herself. Then, her thoughts tumbling over themselves, she used that arm instead to reach out and clutch his sleeve instead.

Looking into his eye, hers heavily lidded, Sakura very purposefully chose her next words.

"Why not,  _sensei?_ "

Kakashi's arms wrapped around her and dragged her from the water. He sat heavily in the sand, placing her neatly in his lap. Sakura gasped lightly as the rough fabric of his pants dragged between her legs. She found her balance on her knees, resting her weight in Kakashi's lap. She could feel his hard length pushing against his clothes, and ground her hips greedily into his, moaning with delight.

Sakura straightened and threw her head back, drops of water flying everywhere, sparkling in the sunlight. Kakashi's blood heated, watching her muscles roll and writhe in pleasure, moans coming from deep inside of her throat. His fingers splayed over her sides, pushing her harder against his throbbing member, the warmth of her body and the fabric dragging over his dick forcing him upright.

Sakura's hips rocked back and forth relentlessly in his lap. Kakashi stared dumbly as she bit her lip, pinching the pink flesh behind delicate white teeth. She bent forward slightly, her hot breath tickling his ear.

" _Touch me, Kakashi-sensei."_

Kakashi tensed, then flipped the pink-haired kunoichi to her back in the sand. Their feet splashed shallowly in the water's edge, but neither cared.

He pulled one her legs up, pinning it against her shoulder. Balancing his weight on one knee, he reached a hand down and between Sakura's hot, shaking thighs. Sakura's chest pushed out a deep moan as his fingers pushed inside of her, her own muscles squeezing deliciously. The pads of his fingers stroked the inside of her walls, and her back arched, pushing her body against his hands. Kakashi's thumb found her swelling clit and she jumped, a fist clutching the neck of mask and pulling it dangerously off-mark. That same static shock that passed between their hands the day before had jumped from his thumb to her hyper-sensitive nerves, turning her into a quivering mess. Kakashi's free hand covered her eyes, just as the mask slipped from his chin, but she honestly had no clue. Sakura's eyes were closed, and even when they happened to open her vision was hazy with the waves of pleasure that streamed from inside her pelvis and up to her chest and throat, forcing out moans with every deep stroke of Kakashi's fingers inside of her.

Kakashi lowered his lips to her throat, hiding his face as he moved his hand from her eyes. His teeth pressed threateningly into Sakura's skin as his hand palmed her warm breast. Sakura gasped, and her back arched as the pressure and electricity of Kakashi's touch built up deep inside of her, threatening to shake her apart.

Kakashi's lips fell lower, taking one perked nipple between them and rolling it with his tongue. Sakura's muscles tightened drastically around his curling fingers in response, drawing a low, intimidating growl from Kakashi's clenched teeth. The sound went straight to her core. Watching her fall apart under his fingers satisfied him deeply, knowing that he could do this to her, seeing her soft skin flushing to match her naturally pink hair  _everywhere._

Then, experimentally, he rolled her sensitive nipple between his teeth, and her pleasure burst like a dam. Wetness pulsed out over the fingers Kakashi had buried inside of her while she rode out her orgasm. He slipped them out, and even with her blurry vision, Sakura could have sworn he had  _sucked them clean_. When she had finally blinked her vision back into focus, his mask was already neatly replaced. His hitae-ate covered his Sharingan, but the visible gray eye watched her intently, studiously. This time he did a better job of focusing on her face, and not tripping down to the rest of her.

Kakashi reached one hand out to help her sit up. Sakura took it, suddenly feeling very naked and searched for her qipao. Her heart dropped when she saw it, sandy and completely waterlogged. Kakashi's eyes followed hers, and he wordlessly pulled his shirt off and handed it over.

"Kakashi, I can't just take your shirt," she said but pulled it on nonetheless. The scent of ginger settled around her like a cloud.

"I do have more of them," he replied, adjusting the sleeveless turtleneck that made up his mask. "Just because I wear a uniform doesn't mean I don't have multiples. I'm not an  _animal_."

Sakura very much doubted that, thinking of just a few minutes before.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Naruto only has the one jumpsuit! I never know what to expect out of you guys!" she replied with a smile. Sakura wiggled into her shorts, which were thankfully free of sand. Kakashi's shirt was large, tumbling past her thighs and wrists almost comically, but she was almost giddy wearing it. She rolled up the sleeves carefully to dunk her qipao in the water and shake all of the sand free. She wrung it out, then carefully jumped her way up from the tiny, warm beach and up to the rocky main shore of the island that led to the secluded cave. Even from a quarter of a mile away, Sakura could hear Naruto's snores echoing inside the stone walls. Kakashi followed her closely.

"You would compare me to  _him_ in terms of hygiene? Wow, I might actually be offended this time. I'll have you know I own at least five shirts. One even has short sleeves."

Sakura giggled in reply.

"Honestly, you put so much care into your appearance just to get disrespected by snot-nosed punks. Even my natural beauty needs a little help sometimes, Sakura," Kakashi joked, rustling her sandy, salty locks.

"Especially with that hair, I'm sure."

"Oh, are my roots showing?" he deadpanned, whirling around to stare at her with chilling seriousness. Sakura had to actually stop walking to double over laughing.

"God, I hate you," she forced out between snorts of laughter, clutching a stitch in her side.

Sakura stopped walking and sat on a mossy boulder to catch her breath. Throwing the qipao with deadly accuracy, she managed to hang it on a branch to dry in the still-rising sun. Exhaustion was really settling in her bones now, as the dawn spilled more and more light across everything in sight. She desperately needed rest before the mission, but she wasn't ready to leave this moment she had alone with Kakashi, not when questions still bugged her mind. It couldn't be that he didn't find her attractive, considering he'd just fingered her brains out. It wasn't that he thought she was a bad shinobi, he'd just said as much. So…

"Why?"

"Why what?" he asked in return, eye carefully controlled into a lazy expression. Sakura imagined that if he ever stopped hiding his face, his lips would tell her so much more than she could read in his eye.

"Why…I don't know? Why would you…touch me like that? Not that I didn't like it, that was amazing. And why avoid me for six months? That was a real dick move, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi swallowed thickly, measuring his response carefully.

"Sakura, you were my former student. We really shouldn't have any sort of physical relationship. I should have better self-control, but sometimes it fails around you. Avoiding you was the only thing I could think of to distance myself. We can't have a relationship, and I shouldn't toy with you when I," he swallowed, "When I truly care about you. As a friend, as a teammate, I wouldn't use you."

Sakura stared at Kakashi through the uncharacteristic display of emotion.

It was disappointing but…He was right. They  _shouldn't_  have a physical relationship. Maybe nobody judged them for being close, but that was them seeing a mentor-student bond. People would definitely have something to say if they slept together, even if Sakura didn't really feel that way about it. And she also valued him, his friendship, and his role in her life. She would rather never feel his hands again than be alienated from him.

"Well. I can accept that. I'd rather have a teammate I can trust with my life, than anything else," Sakura said pensively, looking at the sky as it bled from pink to light blue. She pushed herself off of the mossy rock and smiled up at the man. His chest lurched watching her soft, jade eyes sparkle in the sunlight, so trusting and kind. Kakashi nearly melted when her arms encircled him, just for a second.

"But if you ever ignore me like that again, I'm crippling you."

Kakashi watched Sakura walk back into the cave, following close behind. She crawled into her bedroll, falling asleep almost instantly in the soft, gingery shirt she had borrowed.

* * *

When Sakura woke up, night had fallen over the islands. Kakashi and Naruto had already cleared any trace of their campsite, except for the bedroll and Sakura herself. A small dish of last night's roasted fish lay next to her, courtesy of Naruto. The starving kunoichi shoveled it down as she packed her things.

For a second, she was confused by the shirt she wore, before the memory rose in her eyes like a wall of flames. Her entire face flushed blood red, the muscles of her groin tightening as the ginger scent of the shirt trickled up her nose. Thankfully, her qipao was dry and neatly folded nearby. Sakura nearly ripped the poor item in half shoving herself into it, as stiff as it was after being dunked in seawater.

"Great, Sakura. Now he's going to think you're some star-crossed school girl, you absolute weirdo," she muttered to herself, shoving Kakashi's shirt deep into the recesses of her travel pouch.

Sakura stood and exited the cave, wrestling with her hair. After last night it was an absolute wreck. The pink strands had dried into ridiculous shapes and crunched with all of the sand and salt. She found her teammates just as she was giving up and tying it into a knot behind her headband.

Kakashi, just as he said he could, had donned another long-sleeved shirt. He and Naruto squatted over a large map drawn into the dirt, going over the plan. Both looked up to acknowledge Sakura's approach, and she gave both a cheery grin. She knelt between the two and asked them to catch her up to speed.

"We're all gonna approach from this way," Naruto told her, scratching an arrow through part of the crude drawing. Sakura recognized the shapes as the major islands throughout the Land of Waves. "Once we get here," another mark in the soil, "we split up. Kakashi-sensei and I circle around from the north, this way, and set up shop in the woods." Naruto passed the stick to Kakashi. Sakura did  _not_ have any inappropriate thoughts about his hands as he took it in his grasp.

"You, Sakura, will go east, then approach from the south. No patrols should go out far enough to catch us together. When you start going north, you can abandon any attempts at being sneaky. Drawing their attention is better, so they won't be on the lookout for us. The undercover nin knows someone is coming, so they will find you. You only need to be allowed in."

"Yeah, 'only,'" Sakura scoffed, but she cracked her knuckles with determination. There was no chance she was going to fail.

Satisfied that everyone was on the same page, Kakashi stood and swept his foot across the map. With that, the last evidence of their team's time on the tiny, rocky island was erased, and they set off to continue their mission.

* * *

The silence of Water country was more oppressive without Kakashi and Naruto keeping her company. The team had split up a while ago, and Sakura had been heading east for a while. The mist made it difficult, but Sakura was able to check her bearings against the stars and turn her journey north, towards the compound. As instructed, she lessened her stealth tactics. The sound of sandals slapping stone now echoed through the craggy island plains as she ran. The wind rustled her hair, and her hand reached unconsciously to adjust an absent hitae-ate. Sakura had known, on some level, that she wasn't going to be able to just walk up to a horde of rogue nin with a Leaf Village headband, but leaving the shiny plated piece with her team had been difficult nonetheless. Sakura felt naked without it and the protection it normally afforded. But she couldn't help but laugh as she thought about the tiny slip of paper hidden in her tool pouch; an old Ichiraku Ramen receipt Naruto had dug out of his pocket, just in case she needed to somehow prove to the operative that she was indeed from the Leaf.

As she ran, Sakura noticed two chakra signatures slip into the edge of her sense. She was getting close. Sakura slowed her pace as they closed in on her from each side. When she stopped, she stood as innocently as possible on a gravelly, flat beach. If it came to a fight, she had plenty of level ground to work with.

Two figures approached from either side. Their cloaks were a murky grey, blending in seamlessly with the mist around them. The one on her left was a man, short and stocky with a neat topknot. On her right was a tall, willowy woman whose black hair brushed her calves even in a tight braid. Sakura crossed her arms but made no move to attack. She waited for one of them to speak first.

"Who approaches Ketsuekigakure?"

Sakura kept her face controlled but couldn't repress an internal snort. The Village Hidden in Blood? Was that supposed to be subtle? Both wore a shinobi headband, but the symbol was not one recognized by the Five Great Shinobi Lands.

The metal plate was gouged with one savage line, far deeper than the usual insignias, but reproduced on both headbands. For a secret ninja compound, it was a little obvious. Sakura's skin chilled a bit as she realized what that most likely meant.

For them to go around being this obvious, meant that the only people who survived meeting them did so at the Blood shinobi's will.

Sakura stuck to the plan.

"Iho. My name's Matsuura Iho," Sakura told the two, daring them not to believe her. She had taken on a strong Iwa accent and speech pattern, to distance herself from the Leaf as much as possible.

"And why are you here, Iho?" This time the woman spoke, and Sakura turned to reply.

"Because I'm sick and tired of nearly dying just to give half my pay over to the damned Tsuchikage. I can handle my affairs by myself, thank you."

The woman drew closer, floating ominously through the fog in her cloak.

"Well, Iho, if you wanted to be alone, this was not the place to come. We are a clan unto ourselves in the Blood. We survive together, one like the blood flowing through the delicate human tissues."

Sakura tried not to let her discomfort show, holding the shiver in check.

Good god, what was in the water in this country? Was everyone a freak? Thoughts of Haku and that psycho Zabuza haunted edges of her memory.

"I didn't say I wanted to be alone, did I? I said I could handle my own affairs. And I heard that in the Blood, one's business is theirs."

Sakura looked levelly into the kunoichi's eyes as she spoke, cracking her knuckles. Sakura grinned openly when the woman's eyes took in the dried blood that stained her gloves. That particular detail had been her brainchild, inspired by a few drops of blood staining her fist after punching Naruto's lights out for one too many references to Hinata's generous assets. In this moment, it backed up an image of brutality she needed to project until they were headed back to Konoha. She hadn't expected the village to literally be  _named_  the Blood, but who was she to avoid happy accidents?

"Hm. What do you think, Akio?" the woman asked of her companion. He grunted noncommittally, but that seemed to be a "yes" for the woman.

When she addressed Sakura again, her voice was mochi-sweet. It didn't fool Sakura in the slightest.

"My darling Iho, my name is Manami. This is Akio. The Blood Village will always welcome strong kunoichi, such as yourself. However, we can never be too careful. You may return to the village with us, but you will leave everything here. If you refuse, we will leave your body here to rot, alongside your precious belongings."

Sakura stilled. Leave everything? Her traveling pouch held all of her medicines, weapons, and supplies. It wasn't ideal. But Sakura also knew that the threat to leave her body here was anything but empty.

"Fine. I don't need any of this Iwa garbage anyway. I'm keeping the sweater though. This Kiri weather is eating at me."

Manami didn't seem to object, waiving her hand dismissively. Sakura pulled Kakashi's shirt out of her pack and over her head, taking great pains to sneak the small slip of paper emblazoned with "ICHIRAKU" from the bag and onto her person. Then she dropped the pouch and everything in it into the water.

Sakura watched the pouch sink for a moment, disappearing into the cold gray water. She then followed behind the departing Blood shinobi, until all three disappeared into the mist, leaving the rocky beach eerily silent.


	4. Ketsuekigakure

_I've been on spring break for the past week, which is why these first chapters came so quickly; things might slow down after this and I'm sorry!_

_Thank you for reading and feel free to leave a review!_

* * *

Traveling with the two Blood shinobi was difficult. Their cloaks melted seamlessly into the fog, and more often than not Sakura found herself relying on the slapping sounds of their feet to stay on course.

All at once Sakura burst through to crystal clear air. In front of her, Akio and Manami stood on a crop of rock that rose only slightly above sea level.

The island was flat, forming a perfect circle in the middle of the water. The fog did not melt over this island, held back by an invisible force. Sakura's pace slowed considerably as she stepped from water to stone. The salty air that had assaulted her senses since reaching the Land of Water was now cut with a sharp, coppery stench, one that Sakura recognized immediately. After years of tending to injured and dying warriors, it was as familiar to Sakura as her own sweat.

Whatever this island was, it led to Ketsuekigakure.

The two Blood shinobi stared at Sakura as she approached. Akio's cloak was pushed back over one shoulder, hand resting on the hilt of a katana. The icy gleam in their eyes chilled her to the core.

"We are the Village Hidden in Blood, my dear Iho," Manami began, intimidation dripping from her teeth. Every word she spoke felt specifically chosen to unnerve Sakura as much as possible. "We do not hide behind leaves, or mist, or mountains. Anyone may walk across our front steps, we are not afraid of those foolish enough to wander here."

Manami swished her cloak, drawing Sakura's attention to the rocky surface of the island. She studied the ground as Manami circled behind her. An elaborate seal was burned into the surface, just barely visible under a fine layer of sand and grit. The circle curled into a massive spiral, a shallow basin at its center. The divot was stained a disturbing shade of rust brown.

"Very few are prepared to make the sacrifice to enter."

Sakura's head snapped up as Manami's sentence was punctuated by the threatening  _sshink_  of Akio's katana unsheathing. Even in the dim moonlight, the edge glinted sickeningly.

Manami's voice crawled over Sakura's shoulder, the older woman pressing herself into the younger's back. She whispered directly into Sakura's ear, breath pouring over the side of her face with a nauseating chill.

"You must give what we all have given."

Manami's hands landed on Sakura's wrists. Her touch was freezing, sending every hair on Sakura's body standing upright.

"You  _will_  give your blood. Either to the sea, or to the Village."

Sakura's wrist was forced upwards as Manami pushed her forearm to the sky, yanking up the long sleeve of Kakashi's shirt. Akio pressed the katana's edge along the pale, glowing skin. The smallest drop of blood pearled where steel met flesh.

"Choose, Iho," he said, his eyes burning into Sakura's. Manami tightened her hold around Sakura's body, keeping her from moving an inch. Her lungs froze, staring at the blade pushing into her wrist. Manami's cold tongue licked its way over the shell of Sakura's ear, tasting her cold sweat.

"I give it to the Village," she whispered, rooted in place.

Without breaking eye contact, Akio's katana unzipped Sakura's arm, releasing a torrent of blood. Almost reflexively, she channeled her chakra to her arm in a vain attempt to block the damage, only causing it to infuse with her blood and drain onto the ground until she pulled it back. She barely held her scream in her throat, refusing to wince even as she felt her muscles split apart. Manami turned the extended arm over, wrenching Sakura's wrist until tears pricked at her eyelashes.

Blood spattered over rock in a way that turned her stomach over itself. Somehow, she managed to stay on her own two feet when Manami finally backed away. She clutched her arm to her chest, staunching the flood of blood that trailed in dark rivulets. The damage wasn't fatal, not yet, but Sakura was shocked by the brutality. This was what it took just to  _open the front fucking door?_  More than a pint of her blood had splashed all over the shinobis' legs and the ground. Flecks of it were drying on her legs in a way that made her skin crawl.

Beneath them, the seal began to glow, alight with her chakra-infused blood. The coppery scent Sakura had smelled as soon as she reached the island now burned heavily in her nose. Pebbles bounced gently over the ground as it began to shake, cracking open and out on itself. A deep rift opened in the stone, leaking a musty air onto the island. Sakura could just see the edge of steps leading into the darkness.

Without looking back, Manami descended into the cavern. Akio was as stoic as ever, but pushed her gently, indicating she should follow into the void. Still holding her weeping arm close to her chest, she complied. The steep staircase was damp and mossy, but Sakura could see a faint glow emanating from dozens of yards below.

_An underground cave system? So that's how they've managed to stay hidden for half a decade,_ Sakura thought to herself, following deeper into the earth.

Akio's footfalls came from behind her, blocking her from making a last-chance run for it. But Sakura did not let herself look up to the sky even as the stones above rumbled back into place, sealing the Leaf's prized cherry blossom deep underground.

* * *

So deep under the earth, everything oozed a fine sheen of moisture. The walls were slick, dank, and crawling with moss. Sakura could only see by the dim, flickering flame of the hundreds of torches that lined the halls stretching on into eternity.

Their footsteps echoed through the passages hauntingly as Sakura tried to make sense of where she was.

She had no ideas about the entrance. The sealing jutsu was a bloody one, and she didn't think she could go through that too many more times. Neither of the two in front of her offered any explanations, and Sakura thought it wise to keep her mouth shut for the time being. Squinting her eyes in the dim light, she focused on clotting the cut, using her chakra to stitch together just enough veins and arteries to slow the blood loss. If she passed out here, she was positive they would leave her to bleed out on the floor without so much as a backward glance. However, there was no good reason to lay all of her cards on the table yet. There would be questions if her arm healed instantly, and to reveal her skills was to reveal her weaknesses. Instead, she shifted her armband to her forearm, tightening the buckles with her teeth and compressing the wound.

Sakura frowned, wishing she had been allowed to keep her well-stocked medicinal pouch. There was no telling what kind of infections were burrowing into her body right this very second. She settled for keeping a tight grip on her wrist and elevating it.

The three of them walked along in silence for what felt like hours, before approaching a rough, wooden door wedged into the rock. Manami rapped her knuckles against it impatiently.

When it opened, brighter light spilled over Sakura's face, making her squint.

"Well, well, well. Who is this sweet thing?"

Sakura's eyes focused as one of the two who had brought her here pulled her through the door by her shoulder. The motion strained at her clotting wound, making Sakura grit her teeth.

The door slammed, and she took in her surroundings.

Here, the tunnels were developed, carved neatly into round passages with level-hung torches and scattered doorways.

"She said she was looking to come here. Says she can "handle her own affairs.' Hall said to recruit who we could," Akio said blandly.

"She survived opening the seal," Manami added, clucking disapprovingly. She had definitely hoped Sakura would die somewhere between that island and here, probably so she could lap up all the blood herself. Sakura inched away from her.

"Then the two of may leave us. I will care for her."

Sakura looked at the woman who spoke. She was clearly from the deserts, with warm brown skin and cropped red hair. Sakura recognized the short black kimono that many Suna kunoichi liked to wear and took a mental note to mention this the next time Temari came to visit.

The redheaded woman turned to face Sakura as the other two disappeared down one of the many passages. Something in her eyes made Sakura's mind feel ill at ease.

"Come with me, sweet. You need a wash," she said, taking Sakura's arm more gently than anyone else had bothered to. Sakura looked down at herself, wrinkling her nose in distaste. The soles of her boots were caked with sand and blood, and she could feel it drying between her toes. More blood speckled her shins and thighs, but most gruesome was her bloody arm.

The bleeding was less than a trickle now, but her usually pink arm band was now deep maroon, and the blood that had poured all over her arm and shirt was brown and stiff. When she grimaced, Sakura could even feel the dried blood on her face crunch, and she barely held back her vomit. She was positively smeared in blood from head to toe.

"Who are you?" she asked as the redhead guided her through another doorway. The room they entered was muggy, but the gust of air from the hallway cleared the room of steam. Inside was a tiny hot spring, just big enough for a constant supply of hot water. The stranger was sat on the ground with a neat array of first aid supplies, leaning to the side to light a stick of incense on the edge of the pool.

"I am called Saya. I will be taking care of your arm, if you would allow me," the woman said, motioning for Sakura to join her on a nearby bamboo mat. When she did, Saya took her arm and loosened Sakura's makeshift compression bandage. Her flesh pulled sickeningly on the armband, stuck with gobs of dried blood.

Saya gently ran warm spring water over the skin, loosening it with steam and moisture. She pinched the muscles together with her fingers as she pulled the entire thing away from Sakura's arm. Her normally pale skin was red and swollen, with red oozing from underneath soft scabs. Saya poured another handful of the warm water over Sakura's rent flesh, cleaning out the bacteria. If her wound was healing preternaturally fast, Saya made no mention of it.

"Tell me who you are, sweet. Why have you come to the Village Hidden in the Blood, so deep in these dark islands?"

"My name is-ow!" Sakura winced as the woman began stitching her wound, using real sutures and a needle. It was going to leave an unsightly scar, and Sakura couldn't help but watch with distaste. "I'm Iho. I don't want to work for somebody else anymore, and I heard that that's how things go around here."

Saya hummed, carefully tying closed each stitch in Sakura's flesh before moving to the next.

"It is true, we serve no shadows here. We are not held subject to a Kage's whim, with our bodies at their beck and call." The heat of the small room was beginning to make Sakura's head swim, but she was sure of the disdain in Saya's voice as she said that. She kept silent and leaned her head against the wall. Each inhale of the strong incense lowered her deeper from consciousness.

"But we are  _all_ blood, sweet Iho. You bled at our gates, you are one of us now. We are held subject to each other. That said, you are right in thinking you only work for yourself now. And after this, only you will take care of yourself. If you are weak, you will die soon enough, and I would rather be spared the trouble," Saya said, the cold words sounding out of place from the gentle voice. She fixed a bandage over the neat row of stitches in Sakura's skin, then pulled her to her feet.

"Come. You will rest now. The smoke will help you sleep, deeply enough to be replenished in strength after a little while, sweet Iho. Then the Village Hall will hear about you. First, we must find you somewhere to sleep, yes?"

Sakura's movements were lethargic, but her mind couldn't override how tired her body was to adjust. She recognized the scent of the incense now, and guessed it had been coated in the same kind of sleeping tinctures used at any one of the hospitals Sakura had ever visited. She cursed herself for not realizing it immediately. Her body was on autopilot as Saya guided her through a series of doorways to a larger series of rooms. Eventually, they entered a cavern that vaulted so high into the darkness the ceiling wasn't visible, the hanging stalactites dripping into a glassy pool in the very center. Groggy as she was, Sakura could just barely sense the chakra signatures of four others standing nearby as they entered. One pricked uncomfortably at the edge of her mind. When she focused, the prickle stretched her into a loud yawn.

A wolf whistle ripped through the air as Saya led Sakura through the massive cavern.

"Who's the fresh meat there, Sayaaaaaa?" a brash voice called, pulling them to a stop. The redhead turned to face the approaching group to reply. Sakura blinked blearily, trying to focus as they neared.

"This is Iho. She has abandoned the Tsuchikage and come to join us," Saya said, tucking a flyaway strand of pink behind Sakura's ear. The sound of her voice only lulled Sakura deeper into sleep, until she sagged at the very brink of unconsciousness.

"Oh, is that so?" a second person asked.

_That voice._

Sakura's eyelids fought their way open long enough for her to see the face of that frustratingly familiar chakra signal from before, and the surprise was enough to knock her off of her last legs.

The Leaf's undercover operative was apparently none other than Sasuke Uchiha.

* * *

When Sakura's eyes next opened, she was on a thin feather mat, wrapped in blankets. Above her, a circle of light flickered on the ceiling. She threw back the blankets to find herself naked, only small smudges of blood still staining her skin. That woman, Saya, must have taken her soiled clothes and cleaned her up somewhat. Sakura stood, looking around desperately for something to wear.

"At the foot of the bed."

Sakura's entire body jumped outside of her skin as a voice spoke from the shadowy corner of the room left unlit by the torch. She faced it, fist flaring with chakra and poised for attack.

When Sasuke Uchiha melted out of the shadow to meet her gaze, cool and unaffected, Sakura was dumbfounded. She stared at him openmouthed, before remembering that she was, in fact, completely nude. Her cheeks burned brightly as she snatched up a blanket to cover herself. 12-year-old Sakura was somewhere inside of her chest, screaming with embarrassment.

"I…Everybody thinks you're dead, Sasuke!"

"Not everybody," he said, as monotone as ever. Sakura's eye twitched with annoyance.

"Most people! I thought you  _died_  after the War, Sasuke. Naruto and I  _mourned_  for you. I burned incense at your memorial, every day for a  _year_." Sakura was incredulous, staring at the man before her. They had been seventeen the last time she had seen him. He was taller now, his hair longer and tied back with a Blood hitae-ate. She had spent so many nights crying, thinking about his rotting corpse crawling with maggots, only for him to stand before her now.

Angrily, she gathered the pile at the foot of the bed and began to dress, struggling to keep herself covered by the blanket as she maneuvered into her now-clean clothes.

"Funny, as Naruto definitely knew I was alive."

"Excuse me?" Sakura nearly yelled, almost tripping over the sheet as she turned to Sasuke. Indignation was rising in her eyes. She glared at him as threateningly as one could while squirming into spandex shorts.

"If I remember correctly, the Hokage decided to say Naruto killed me in battle. Naruto knows he didn't do that. I wouldn't expect him to know this is where I am, but he's well aware I'm alive," he said, perfectly calm as Sakura's rage kept building. How DARE Naruto and Tsunade lie to her like this? Who else was in on it? Who else let her suffer for years, mourning her first love? How dare they do that to her, who  _gave them the right_?

Tears began to swim in her eyes as she stared at Sasuke. His face was as neutral as ever, as if this conversation was less interesting than talking to a child.

"That's IT! I'm going to kick his ass all the way to Suna! I am going to chakra-stitch his ass to his forehead the SECOND we get back to the Village! And we can just see what happens if Tsunade ever tries to ask me to help her on filing day ever again!" Sakura yelled at nobody in particular, trying to hold back the water in her eyes. Then she focused her anger again on Sasuke, anger rising to a dangerous blaze, first raised in his direction as she charged him.

"And YOU- "

"I can see that you need to cry. Maybe you'll calm down if you do," he said, derisively.

Stillness settled in Sakura's bones. Her anger raged like a landslide in her bloodstream, but she stood still and calm, a reflection of the man she had once loved, once mourned.

How had she wasted so many years on a boy so consumed with vengeance? She had come to peace with him being dead, had accepted that they would never be together. Maybe that gave her some clarity now that she was seeing him in the flesh, or she might have tried to declare her love the second she'd first seen him. For him to have such a cold disdain for her right now killed any notion of love that lingered. In this moment, she just felt a flame of anger threatening to burn her from the inside out.

"I will never cry for you again, Uchiha."

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment more, silence filling the room around them.

"So you're the one's who's been undercover here, then?"

"It would appear so."

"Great. Then we're leaving," Sakura said, and moved for the door.

"Do you even know how to release the seal?"

Sakura turned to Sasuke as she opened the door to the hallway, raising one glowing fist with murder blazing in her jade eyes.

"I'd like to see them try to keep me underground."

Sakura stormed through the hallways, Sasuke following close behind. She had absolutely no intentions of staying down here any longer than absolutely necessary. She honestly couldn't begin to fathom why Tsunade had sent her on this mission at all.

Now that she had established contact, it was time for them to leave and return to the Village, so Sakura could be free of Sasuke's presence as soon as physically possible. Every time she glanced at the raven-haired man behind her, her heart ached forlornly. It made her miss the pain she had felt when she'd seen his gravestone, as it paled in comparison. Each pang of sadness she felt now caused an uptick in her anger, until every pump of her heart seemed to punch her ribcage.

Sasuke scrutinized Sakura as they walked, watching the chakra that warped around her fists morph and flare. His chin lifted knowingly as the streams of chakra grew brighter, longer, crawling to her elbows.

"Sakura, calm down."

The chakra dancing over her arms flared as she whirled around, reaching towards her biceps. Even her eyes seemed brighter as she turned to scream at him, emotions on high.

"DON'T YOU DARE! TELL ME! TO CALM DOWN!" she screamed. Sasuke dodged her punch, but her fist landed in the stone wall instead. Several feet inside of the stone.

The floor and ceiling shook with the force of her fist, a huge fissure spreading from Sakura's first off into the dimly lit hallway. Tremors shuddered through the caves in response to the shock, forcing the two Leaf shinobi to lock eyes with something other than anger. Both could hear footsteps approaching on multiple sides in search of the disturbance.

"We should leave now."

"You think I don't know that? Was I heading to the spa? Go to the entrance, I'm following right behind," Sakura snapped in response, holding her fists at the ready, again in control of her chakra. Sasuke took off down one of the many hallways, Sakura in tow.

Sasuke unsheathed his sword as they ran, cutting down a grey-cloaked figure in the hallway before it could react to them. As they passed, Sakura watched the blood blossoming across the floor.

The two of them came to the same vaulted cavern Sakura had passed out in, but it was not nearly so empty now. Sakura wished desperately for any of her supplies now, as she stood facing a dozen enemies with no weapons but her hands. Odds were slim that they would get much farther than this cavern.

In the moment before the inevitable fight erupted, Sakura leaned to whisper urgently into Sasuke's ear.

" _Handle them. I'm getting us out of here."_

* * *

Kakashi thumbed through the wrinkling pages of Icha Icha, bored beyond possible belief. He and Naruto had been waiting in a cave for some sort of signal from Sakura for 36 hours now. Another 36 and they had instructions to find her trail, follow it, and track her down. But Kakashi was tempted to just go ahead and make the call, rather than suffer through one more dissertation of Ichiraku's extended menu. He was about to interrupt Naruto's third in-depth explanation of just how it was Teuchi made such a fine noodle when the ground began to shake.

Both men jumped up and darted out of the cave, to stare over the lake their island nested in. It was midday, and most of the fog had cleared to reveal an expansive lake that stretched for miles, sparkling under the sun. In the distance, flat stone islands dotted the horizon like stepping stones. Here and there, trees protruded from the surface, rings marking where previous floods had saturated the bark.

Those trees were beginning to tilt suspiciously towards a spot in the lake half a mile away.

"Sensei, what the hell is this?!" Naruto asked as pebbles began jumping around their ankles.

"I don't know," he said, but shifted his weight forward on his feet anyway. "But we could probably assume it has something to do with us."

The water at the island's edge began to churn, rushing towards that same spot out in the water. A great cracking sound traveled over the surface as four trees began to sink down and into the rushing water.

"You don't think-" Naruto started to say, trailing off into silence as the waves began forming a huge circle in the lake. The shaking of the island was getting more violent, as more cracking sounds trembled from within the earth. Rocks, trees, and water rushed by, into the massive sinkhole forming in the center of the lake.

"I honestly wouldn't think she had the chakra to do this," Kakashi said in an awed voice. The entire body of water was now draining into whatever cavity had been under the lake's floor. There was one massive, sky-shattering screech of splitting rock, and a huge geyser of water shot up from the center of the sinkhole, crackling with streams of jade-green chakra. The water crashed back down, sending waves and debris in every direction. The waves quickly settled back, streaming down into the sinkhole.

From the center of the abyss, two figures shot into the sky; one pink, one black. Kakashi heard Naruto's breath hitch excitedly as a great brown hawk swooped into catch them both. Kakashi himself was caught by surprise- like most, he'd been told that the last remaining member of the Uchiha Clan had died years ago. But the Sharingan did not lie, as he saw Sasuke and Sakura flying towards the rendezvous point in sharp detail.

* * *

Sakura was staring stonily into space when Kakashi and Naruto finally made it to the agreed-on meeting place. She made no move to indicate she recognized either of them approaching. Sasuke was sitting nearby, idly polishing flecks of blood from the crevices of his sword.

"Sasuke! Long time no see, man! I was hoping you were doin' good!" Naruto chattered excitedly, giving the Uchiha a warm, unreciprocated hug. He didn't care though, and immediately began yelling into Sakura's face instead.

"That was so cool! You broke an entire LAKE, Sakura! I've never seen anything like that, you have to tell me all about it," he begged.

"How about an up-close demonstration instead?"

"Huh? WhaddayaAAAAAGGH!"

Naruto wailed as Sakura's fist slammed into his cheek, tossing him several feet to the right.

"YOU TOLD ME SASUKE WAS DEAD! WE WENT TO HIS  _GRAVE_ TOGETHER!" she screamed, eyes blazing with rage, but threatening to spill over with tears. Kakashi couldn't find it in his heart to blame her. He'd felt just as surprised to see Sasuke, alive and breathing, and had spent the better part of the two hours' journey questioning him nonstop.

Naruto's eyes were dazed and watering when he managed to sit up.

"Granny Tsunade told me to keep it a secret! For his safety and ours."

"Since when do you actually listen when she tells you to do something? I should graft your ass to your nose for this!"

"When we were ending a war, Sakura."

Sakura had to lower her fist as he said that. It was one of the rare moments where Naruto wielded the gravitas that would earn him the Hokage title. She glared at him, refusing to let go of the anger she was feeling, even if she let go of the impulse for violence. After a few seconds, she sighed.

"Can we go home now? I'm soaked."

* * *

Sakura did not join the other three in returning to the Hokage tower. A deep, deep sadness weighed in her chest, and she had headed towards her tiny apartment the second they entered the gates, insisting she would hand in her mission report in the morning.

Not bothering to use the front door, Sakura climbed the outside wall to crawl in through her bedroom window. Tears finally tracked down her grimy face as she went straight for her shower, peeling off layers of dirty clothing and dropping them on the floor.

Sakura started the shower, steam filling the tiny bathroom as the water heated. Stepping into the scalding stream of water, she cried. Deep, soul-wracking sobs that threatened to break her ribs and choke her from the inside out. Hysterical, she ripped out the sutures still in her arm, little drops of blood flying as she tore through them.

_Why_  would they tell her Sasuke was dead? Sakura had never felt so betrayed in her life. How many nights had Naruto let her cry on his shoulder after they left the memorial stone, knowing all the while that the corpse she cried over was perfectly alive and well somewhere in Kirigakure? Why would Tsunade tell him to lie to her, when she knew just how often Sakura came to work with puffy, bloodshot eyes and a red nose from nights spent crying into the early hours of dawn? She had mourned the death of one of her best friends. She had mourned the loss of a love. She had  _suffered_  and they had  _watched_.

After a while, the tears stopped, but she didn't move. Sakura sat on the floor of her shower until the water pelting her back ran frigid, sending icy shivers up her spine. She stood and pulled on a silky, flower-patterned robe. If nothing else she was just deeply relieved to be home.

As she walked back into her bedroom, there was a sharp knock at her window. When she looked up, Kakashi's masked face peeked through the still-open frame, chin perched on the arms resting across the ledge.

"Just because you can destroy an entire body of water single-handedly doesn't mean you should leave your window open all the time. It could be dangerous," Kakashi quipped, watching her sit heavily on the bed. Sakura was too tired to joke and just looked at him, eyelids sagging.

"Did you know?"

"That you were going to flood an entire underground compound? I can't say I saw it coming, but-"

"Kakashi, please."

He sighed.

"No. I really didn't. I'm sorry, Sakura." Kakashi couldn't stop himself from jumping through the window when she began to cry again, more softly this time.

"I just- I don't- Why would they  _lie_ to me for so long, Kakashi? Why would they…why let me grieve over him like that?" Sakura implored. She looked at him through red, crying eyes as he closed the window and sat on the edge of her bed.

"I don't know. Sometimes the people in charge have to make difficult decisions. Those decisions aren't always good for everybody they affect."

Sakura scooted to the edge of the bed, next to Kakashi. He couldn't resist wrapping an arm around her shoulders when she leaned against him, hugging her to his side as she wiped at her tears. The smell of her strawberry shampoo floated pleasantly through his mask and across his senses.

"It feels like some part of him did die. He's so cold, even more than when we were kids. I don't think I'll ever see that Sasuke again. But I'm going to have to see that grown-up, cold version of him. And that hurts, it's like he died all over again."

"I've lost teammates too," Kakashi said with a heavy sigh. "After two decades it doesn't hurt any less, only less often. You can only try to spend as much energy living as you do hurting."

Sakura's tears began again, this time in earnest. Kakashi repositioned their bodies so that he could lean against the head of the bed while she cried into his chest. She was leaving a huge wet mark on his shoulder, but Sakura couldn't find the will to care. Sakura was too focused on breathing through the tears shaking her body. Kakashi ran his fingers idly through her hair, combing out the tangles before they could dry. It soothed her. Sakura began falling asleep against him, exhausted after the mission, after the emotional outburst, everything. As she teetered on the edge of unconsciousness, she felt him rise. Kakashi turned off the light, moving carefully to avoiding waking her as he moved for the window.

"Please…don't leave me, sensei," she murmured into the darkness.

He sighed as he turned to face her. The moonlight that streamed through the window lit her tear-stained, devastated face. Just seeing so much pain on her face made his heart feel heavy. She looked pathetic, curled into her bed as if she was hiding from everything the world could throw at her, eyes puffy and nose running. It already took so much willpower to resist her, and the heart-breaking expression marring her features overpowered his resolve, melting it into a puddle. Kakashi removed his jōnin vest and laid back down, breath catching in his throat when Sakura burrowed into his side. He didn't even have time to think before instinctively wrapping one warm arm around her trembling shoulders. It was dangerous to hold her like this, to satisfy his want for her closeness like this, but he couldn't find it within himself to resist.

Her sobs were gentler this time, as she began drifting again into sleep, hands clutching the fabric of Kakashi's shirt.

Sakura thought she might have already been dreaming when she felt a soft kiss on her forehead.


	5. Can I See?

The sunlight streaming in through the window woke Sakura, but she didn't open her eyes. Instead, she laid there, letting the morning sun filter in through her eyelids, warm and pink. She was so warm and comfortable, wrapped snugly in her blankets and a cloud of ginger.

It was that scent that dragged her from the depths of sleep. Sakura's eyes blinked slowly open.

She laid on her side in her bed, facing the door to the bathroom with her back to the wall. Seeing her dirty clothes strewn across the floor and feeling a warm body against her back, an arm slung over her waist, her heart almost leaped out of her chest. Sitting up, she was careful to keep her eyes trained very carefully on the wall. Sakura was almost scared to see who she had woken up in bed with, momentarily forgetting the events of the night before in her surprise. When they did come back to her, her body sagged slightly. Then, her eyes widened. The warm body that still rested an arm in her lap had to be-

Sakura turned to look at her guest slowly, something like excitement thundering in her chest. If  _he_  was asleep in her bed, her chances had literally never been better. Sure, she was an adult now, but that didn't mean she couldn't indulge some of her more immature urges…

Sakura turned her head around inch by inch, a hysterical smile growing on her face when she did, in fact, see an unruly mess of silver jutting out from the blankets. She ignored the tensing of her stomach muscles in reaction to seeing he'd taken off his long-sleeved shirt at some point during the night, trying to focus through the distraction of his long, well-muscled arm that cradled her waist. His breathing was level, and he was relaxed against one of Sakura's frilly pillowcases. She moved as quickly as she dared, one hand moving achingly slow towards her former sensei's face. If she could only manage to snag one finger around his mask, she'd have answered  _years_  of speculation between her and a certain knucklehead. Not to mention someone would FINALLY be able to win the bet that they'd made as 13-year-olds. A drop of sweat beaded at her hairline, traveling down her face as one manicured fingernail neared where mask met cheek. Sakura's nail hooked around the edge and began to pull it down, baring just the slightest amount of his high cheekbones. Her breath caught in her throat. This was it,  _she was going to see his face._

_BRRRRRRRING!_

Sakura stifled her scream, but the shock of her doorbell ringing so loudly shocked her so badly she jumped right off of the bed and fell into a heap on the rug. The blanket came down after her, and she hid under it in embarrassment.

"Sa-kuraaa! Are you home, dearie? It's Mrs. Fujita, here for tea!" came the shockingly loud voice from her front door. The doorbell screamed a few more times before Sakura heard her neighbor on the floor, Mrs. Kobayashi, open her door and very politely ask if the landlady could  _please_ come back  _later,_  as it was quite early, and Sakura hadn't returned from her mission yet anyway. She couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when she heard both sets of footsteps leave the hallway.

Under her duvet, she tried to gather her courage. There was no way Kakashi had slept through any of that, and chances were that he'd seen how close she was to peeking at his face. She was screwed.

She stood slowly, blanket still wrapped around her comically. Sakura meekly pulled it down around her shoulders like a hood, pink hair bouncing around her chin.

"Who's scary enough to make  _you_ of all people hide under the covers?"

Kakashi was indeed awake, with his mask still securely in place. He stretched out, easily the full length of her bed, leaning against the headboard with his arms behind his head. His eyes crinkled amusedly at her, but the humor of the moment was suddenly lost for Sakura.

In just the tight undershirt that served as his mask and his uniform pants, he was a stark black and white contrast to the soft pinks and pastel greens of her bed. Sakura's eyes traveled the length of his legs and well-defined torso, halting momentarily at the thin strip of skin visible where his shirt and pants didn't quite meet. They skimmed over where muscle flexed and bunched as he held his arms behind his head, taking in the few faint scars and the deep red of his ANBU tattoo, before landing heavily on the strong, mesmerizing line of his jaw.

Sakura could not bring herself to meet his gaze, instead staring breathlessly at the distorted features of his nose and lips under the mask. She still  _needed_ to see beneath it, but unlike a few minutes before, something was boiling through her whole body. Desire burned through her blood, making her knees week and her cheeks bright red.

She dropped the blanket she had bundled around herself. She'd never gotten dressed after her shower the night before, instead just falling asleep in her robe. The short, silky garment was now haphazardly sashed, the ribbon around her hips barely holding the thing together. Skin was open to the air in a gentle "v" to her belly button, an alluring flush spreading across her chest and throat.

Sakura approached her own bed, one breathless step at a time, eyes never leaving the shadow that had to be Kakashi's mouth. When her thighs bumped the edge of the mattress, she stopped, momentarily unsure of what she was doing. The sound of her own blood seemed to rush in her ears, and she was suddenly full of more confidence than she had ever had in a situation like this before. There was something new inside of her, pushing her to act on impulse.

Sakura finally lifted her eyes to meet Kakashi's. Without his hitae-ate, both eyes were watching her darkly, liquid with heat and something else that Sakura couldn't describe. His muscular arms were still behind his head, the picture of relaxation, but Sakura could read better than most the finely-controlled tension in his shoulders and stomach, ready to move in a moment's notice.

"Come here, sensei."

Before the sentence had even fully left her mouth, he was sitting on the bed's edge right in front of her. He settled his knees on either side of her hips, jostling her so slightly it might have been an accident. She was positive it wasn't. Sakura found herself pleased with how quickly he obeyed and wondered just how obedient he could be. The thoughts sliding through her mind stoked the fire deep in her gut, pushing her to act.

Her right hand rose again to his face, this time without hesitation, without trying to go unnoticed. Sakura slipped one finger under the edge of his mask but didn't move to strip it away just yet. Instead, she traced the pad of her thumb lazily over the cloth covering his lips. She was almost hypnotized as she felt the slightest bit of wetness through the fabric, Kakashi's smoldering eyes burning through every conscious thought she tried to string together when his tongue brushed against her fingertip from behind the mask.

Sakura's eyes slid dreamily shut as both of his hands found her waist, body heat seeping quickly through the thin silk of her robe. They slid around to her backside and squeezed, eliciting a breathy moan from the pink-haired woman, before sliding beneath the hem to find deliciously bare skin. Sakura's eyes opened to look again into his, as he gripped her thighs and pulled her up until she straddled his lap. Desire ripped through her body when she brushed against the hard length of his groin.

Sakura's finger that still pulled at the edge of Kakashi's mask moved the slightest bit, questioningly.

"May I see?" she asked, breathless.

"I want you to see," he replied, voice rough as he looked into her dazzling jade eyes, unable to deny her anything. He would destroy an army for her, raise a city for her. Anything she would ask of him, he would give.

Sakura slowly pulled down the soft fabric until it pooled around his neck.

Kakashi was  _stunning._ Sakura couldn't help but roll her hips instinctively, pushing a harsh, gravelly moan from between Kakashi's soft, pink lips. His teeth clenched, showing long, sharp canines that thrilled Sakura all the way to her core. Sakura traced a finger down the scar under his eye, ending at the lone freckle that dotted just to the side of those surprisingly full lips. Sakura felt like she was floating outside of her body as she leaned and gently, softly, kissed his beauty mark. She began to pull away, but Kakashi stopped her, one hand on her chin.

This was not the first time Kakashi had been her bed, not even close. Years of functioning as basically his private medic had seen him come through her apartment plenty of times. This was not even the first time she had been naked in his lap.

But this was entirely new, the feeling of him kissing her. His lips were gentle and warm, and he tasted like ginger and lemons. The force behind his kiss made her melt into his body, his arms circling her waist and pressing her tighter to his chest. Sakura sunk into Kakashi's body as he leaned back into the plush blankets, his tongue tracing along hers and sending shivers all the way to her toes. Weight on her knees, she ground her throbbing clit against the rough fabric of the front of his pants, making Kakashi grunt into the fevered kiss and buck his hips into hers, hard.

"Fuck, Sakura…," he moaned, voice rough while Sakura's hands found themselves dragging up his chest.

"That's the mission,  _sensei_ ," she teased, rolling her hips again, as cutely as she could manage with bruised, spit-slicked lips.

Every time she called him sensei, it sparked something dirty and perverted in Kakashi's mind, something probably not helped by years of consuming Icha Icha content. Kakashi flipped the kunoichi to her back, balancing over Sakura with one arm. He used the other to twist open the loose knot of the robe and push the garment out of his way. Her skin was flushed, and he took his sweet time tracing over every inch that he could reach. One finger circled around her breast, nipple tightening as he brushed over it. Unable to resist, Kakashi dipped his head and flicked his tongue over the tightened flesh, before suckling on it gently. Sakura mewled under him, body shaking as the sensation pulsed through her. Kakashi left wet, electrifying kisses down her chest and stomach before spreading her trembling thighs.

She nearly screamed when his tongue delved to taste her.

* * *

Sakura's forehead was sweaty and plastered with her hair. She was panting, trying to catch her breath in the warm, muggy air of her bedroom. Kakashi laid beside her in bed, shirtless, muscles bare in all their glory. Sakura's eyes couldn't help but float down his well-defined abs and the faint trail of soft silvery hair that led to the sheet draped lazily over his hips, leaving very little to the imagination. His arms were behind his head in that way that begged Sakura to just lean over and kiss him, but he was well and truly asleep now, soft snores coming from his throat, and she wanted to let him rest. Late afternoon sunshine poured in through the window, setting the man's face aglow. She couldn't stop marveling over the strong profile of his nose, the masculine cast of his features, the full and pink lips that were still slightly swollen from her abuse.

Sakura's jade eyes continued to study him as she lost herself in her thought.

Every time he touched her, she felt a pang of electricity that set her nerves on fire. She wanted to burn in that fire forever, just drowning in his touch until she burned out. Even now, her back and hips ached more than that time Kiba had let her ride Akamaru. Sakura flexed her muscles, relishing the dull ache that somehow only pooled more arousal in her stomach.

But he also was the only person she felt she could trust. The wound of Tsunade and Naruto's lie was raw and filled with the salt of Sasuke's presence in the village. Somewhere, on these dusty streets, right now, he was walking and talking. Okay, probably not talking. Probably sitting and sulking somewhere in the abandoned Uchiha complex, surrounded by cobwebs and his own self-imposed misery. Certainly not thinking about how his actions may have affected others, or about how people might  _feel_ about his lies and apparent utter lack of emotional empathy. The only thing he had ever cared about was exacting his revenge on his brother, and he'd achieved that years ago. What could possibly be driving him now? What could convince someone to so thoughtlessly cast aside someone who cared about him? All these years later and still Sakura's heart pained over him. All these years of their only relationship being her sobbed apologies to a silent slab of marble and soil, and still, she  _ached_ over him.

And Naruto…he had  _known_. He knew he hadn't killed Sasuke. He had lied to her for years, letting her believe the worst. Sakura had poured her heart and soul, what little she'd had left at the time, into making sure Naruto felt no guilt for bringing an end to Sasuke's life, only to learn that he had NEVER suffered that guilt. It had only been an act, designed to keep hidden a truth she more than deserved to know.

Did Naruto and Tsunade think her a child? Did they think she was unable to keep a secret? Sakura was a dedicated Leaf shinobi well on her way to jōnin status. She had proved herself in the war as capable and dependable. She was a human battle tank, she could heal someone from the brink of death, she could hold her own under interrogation and torture. What good reason could they ever come up with to justify lying to her for more than half a decade? For letting her suffer?

Sakura blinked back angry tears and stood up quickly to go to the bathroom. Once inside, she immediately turned on the shower, gritting her teeth through the ice-cold spurt of water that hit her body. Slowly, the water warmed, soothing the angry tension scrunching in her shoulders. Sakura released a deep sigh and leaned her head back.

The only thing that kept her from tripping over the edge and punching the Fifth Hokage's face right off the side of the mountain was the man currently asleep in her bed. Honestly, Kakashi would probably think it'd be hilarious, but she could already hear him calmly explaining that doing so was technically treason. Even if it was kind of well-deserved.

But even imagining him talking her out of high treason calmed her down. There was no one she felt as safe with, felt she could trust so completely. Not to mention that he made her entire body light up like a bonfire. She didn't know what she would do without him. Kakashi had been a steadfast presence in her life for more than ten years, guiding, protecting, and teaching her.

Six months of him avoiding her had been hell enough.

Washing her hair, Sakura considered those six months. Kakashi had only avoided her because he had been trying to keep his self-control. She couldn't help but smirk, thanking god that he had lost that self-control. Every touch he laid on her felt like a gift from heaven, and every moment she spent with him was relaxed and happy. There was nobody else she could talk to so freely and joke with so easily. Sakura smiled to herself, thinking about how lucky she was to have someone like Kakashi in her life.

Sakura turned off the hot water that still poured over her shoulders and stepped out of the shower. There, leaning against the sink was Kakashi himself, already dressed, holding out a towel for her. Smiling, she let him wrap her in it and plant a kiss on her forehead.

"Hi there."

"Yo."

"Fancy meeting you here. Come through often?" she teased, turning to face the mirror and brush her teeth.

"I absolutely could," Kakashi said, wrapping his arms around her middle from behind and burying his face in the wet locks, inhaling the overpowering scent of her strawberry shampoo. He felt like he could stay here, like this, forever but-

"I think you have a visitor."

"What? Who?" Sakura questioned, just as whoever it was began pounding on the front door of the tiny apartment.

"My omniscience only goes so far," he replied, pulling his mask over his nose with a smile. Sakura felt a little sad to see that face go.

"Saku-raaaaaa!" yelled the voice in the hallway, "I'm coming inside in three seconds, you hear me?! Three!"

"Oh hell, its Ino," Sakura said, scrambling out of the bathroom. "She's got a key."

"Two!"

"I'll see you soon then," Kakashi said with a wink, ruffling Sakura's hair.

"One!"

Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke just as Ino burst through the door and into Sakura's tiny studio.

"Good morning, Ino-pig," Sakura said as sweetly as she could, walking nonchalantly as possible towards her dresser to find some clothes.

"Good  _afternoon,_  Forehead," Ino replied, squinting her eyes at Sakura. She followed the pinkette and took a seat on the bed.

"It smells like sex in here."

Sakura almost fell over.  _How could she always tell?_

Turning to face her while pulling on a pair of black leggings, Sakura said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Ino."

"Really? So that's not a hickey on your neck?"

Sakura's hand flew to her neck as she ran to look in the mirror. When she studied her skin, there was nothing there.

"What are you even talking about Ino?"

"But you went to  _look,_  Sa-ku-raaa," Ino sang, very satisfied with herself. "Which means I was right! You got laaaa-aaaaid."

Huffing, Sakura yanked her shirt on over her head. "Okay, fine. And what about it?"

"Well who was it! Was it Kiba? Oh my god, was it  _Lee?_ You're basically bow-legged right now, Sakura, it had to be Lee."

"Ew, Ino, no! It wasn't Lee! It's none of your business so leave me alone about it, jeez."

"I'll find out eventually, you know I will."

"I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors."

"Stubborn bitch."

"Nosy slut."

"The one and only," Ino said with a shit-eating grin. "Well, if you aren't going to tell me what, or  _who_ you were doing, I'm supposed to bring you to Tsunade."

Sakura's face settled into a grim expression. She didn't want to face her in the slightest, but it wasn't exactly like she could just ignore a direct summons from the Hokage.

"Ugh. Fine. Let's go."

* * *

Sakura dragged her feet as she walked through the halls of the Hokage tower with Ino. Every step closer to the door of Tsunade's office felt like a step closer towards hell. She had a pretty good idea of what was waiting for her, considering she'd technically ditched the mission before reporting in.

Sakura's eyes stayed glued to her feet when Ino knocked on the office door.

"Come in."

Ino opened the door, and Sakura finally looked up when she heard her startled gasp.

"Sakura, is that-"

"Ino, that will be all," the Hokage said from behind her desk.

"But-"

"Close the door behind you, Yamanaka."

Ino disappeared behind the door, leaving Sakura alone in Tsunade's office, facing the long-estranged Team Seven in its entirety. She guessed that Ino's shock had been at seeing Sasuke Uchiha leaning against a window and staring off across the skyline of the village. Naruto and Kakashi both stood in front of the desk, staring at her. Naruto's eyes were full of guilt and pity, Kakashi's full of concern. Tsunade did not look up from what she was writing, fervently scribbling over a scroll. Sakura approached the desk to stand between Kakashi and Naruto, carefully training her face into a neutral expression.

"I seem to remember saying to get in and out discreetly, did I not?" the Hokage asked, not looking up from her work.

"Extenuating circumstances, milady."

Tsunade sighed, finally dropping her pen and looking at Sakura.

"What kind of 'extenuating circumstances' make you have to drain an entire lake? You're supposed to be the responsible one."

"Well, it wasn't like we were getting out through the front door. They nearly killed me just to get inside."

"I still don't see why you needed to drain a massive lake. The Kiri daimyo is not impressed in the slightest," Tsunade said with narrowed eyes.

"Well, there was a, um. We were outnumbered in a fight, and we weren't going to find anywhere better to escape. So, I broke through the ceiling of the cave. I didn't  _know_  it was directly under a lake," she said, trying to shift herself out from under the blame as much as she could.

"And why was there a fight? The point was to be incognito, Sakura."

"I may or may not have been upset and broken a wall or two when we were attempting to sneak out. Stealth was off the table at that point," Sakura said, getting annoyed.

"So, you let your emotions get in the way of your mission objective, is that what I'm hearing?"

Sakura's anger kicked into gear, and she heard the blood thundering through her veins.

" _You_ were the one who sent me in to retrieve Sasuke  _fuck-ing_ Uchiha without any warning. I thought I was seeing a dead man walking, like some twisted person had found me out and used a jutsu to torture me!"

"If I had told you beforehand, you might have been unable to hold yourself together and make it into the compound," Tsunade shot back.

"So instead you let me find out that you, my mentor, and my best friend have been  _lying to me_ for years, telling me that my teammate  _was killed?_  You let me grieve his death for half a decade, let me leave flowers on his grave, and then you expect me to just take it in stride when I see him alive and breathing? You're lucky I didn't destroy every island in the country!" Sakura all but screamed, rage coursing through her blood. A fine sheen of chakra gleamed in her eyes, climbing up her clenched fists and forearms as her anger boiled. Naruto was staring at her, mouth dropped open in shock, and Kakashi reached out to touch gently touch her shoulder, grounding her somewhat.

Tsunade jumped to her feet, slamming her fist on the desk. "How dare you-"

"It's not her fault."

Everyone quieted and turned to stare at Sasuke, whose words had sliced through the air like a knife. Tsunade, calming down, sat back down heavily in her seat.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sakura snapped, not inclined to be defended by Sasuke right now.

"The Blood was created with very specific goals in mind, goals that required a vast amount of power," he said, at last deigning to push away from the window and face everyone else in the room. "The woman who created that seal did so to reinforce the strength of the village. She killed herself using a jutsu that imbued all of her chakra into her blood and then used it to burn the seal into the rock. She sealed all of her power into it."

Sasuke went on in that monotonous, disinterested voice, picking at his fingernails.

"Sakura signed a contract with that seal, every member of the Blood did, including myself. I wouldn't be surprised if her chakra reserves are as vast as Naruto's now. It will take her some time to control her new power and abilities, and clearly her behavior as well."

Naruto made an odd choking noise from beside Sakura, taking a half-step back from her. He thought she had been scary  _before_  this. Sakura decided to slide right past the snide remark in favor of shock at the new information.

"I'm…I did what now?" Sakura sputtered, incredulous.

"The two who brought you there, they asked you to give your blood to the Village."

"Yes, and then they cut me. There was blood everywhere."

"When you agreed and bled over the seal, it released the fuīnjutsu. Everyone who does so is granted the power of the Ketsu Clan, the clan that first formed the Blood."

At this point, Tsunade interrupted. "And how many other people signed the contract? Who can we expect to make a counter-attack?"

"There were sixteen living members, not including myself. At least twelve died during the cave-in."

"That's too many possibly left alive for comfort."

"Their strength would have increased since then. The fewer people who share the seal's chakra, the less the power is divided."

Sakura's stomach was tumbling, and she let herself sit on the floor with a heavy thud. Huge chakra reserves? New abilities? A blood jutsu that she was now contracted into? She felt sick trying to process everything.

Naruto squatted down beside her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Hey, Sakura, you don't have to freak out. I know finding out you have scary huge strength is scary, but you can handle it. We just have to train you up! Imagine what you could be capable of now."

It wasn't exactly the best thing she could imagine, but his words did console her.

Tsunade sighed before she began speaking again. "It can't be avoided. You'll have to focus on training and controlling your strength before you can go back into the field. I'll assign you more shifts at the hospital to cover the loss in pay." Tsunade rubbed her temples, exhausted with the ordeal before her. "In the meantime, Sasuke will leave and search for any surviving blood-nin."

Sakura's head snapped up, anger flaring again in her eyes.

"Five years of pretending you're dead, you show up alive out of thin air, and then you disappear again not even a day later? What kind of bullshit is that, Uchiha?" she spat. Sakura thought she detected the slightest hint of something, maybe regret, in his eyes, but it was gone so fast she was sure she had imagined it. Sasuke regretting his actions would be nothing short of hell freezing over.

"Sakura," the Hokage said, getting impatient with Sakura's constant emotional outbursts. This was something she expected of Naruto, not her prized pupil. "Do you even know what the Blood's purpose is? They exist primarily to wipe out the five Kage. Sasuke had to be retrieved before they took drastic action, Sakura, and the team best suited for that mission was the one he came from. But since you destroyed their  _entire base_ , their plans will have changed. They will have suspicions after that stunt you pulled, and now he has to go back to make sure they don't immediately set their sights on the Leaf."

"But people don't even know he's alive!"

"I'm sure Ino is taking care of that as we speak."

"Lady Tsunade, you can't just-"

"I can, and I will, Sakura," she said, cutting the younger woman off midsentence. "Sasuke is doing his duty in service to the Village. I don't think I need to remind you to do the same."

Sakura seethed, teeth and fists clenched like vices.

"No, milady, you don't. Please excuse me," she said, and turned on her heel and left the office.

* * *

Kakashi found her an hour later, having given her some time alone to cool off. The sun was now setting, dusk falling over the field. She was sitting on the grass in front of Sasuke's memorial stone, eyes glassy as she stared at it.

"Good thing that black cat passed me on my way home, my detour sent me right here to you," he said, sitting beside her. She leaned her head on his shoulder the second he was settled.

"Maybe they're actually an omen of good luck, then," she murmured. The tightness in her chest loosened a little as she leaned into his side. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, surrounded by the sound of crickets. Both stared blankly at Sasuke's memorial stone as the sun sank under the edge of the horizon.

The monolith stood at least five feet tall and two feet wide, a simple block of black marble, but stunning and intimidating nonetheless. A befitting monument to the last heir of the Uchiha. Sakura had spent weeks painstakingly choosing the memorial stone, making sure of every last detail was perfect, a memorial good enough for the boy she had loved.

It meant nothing now.

Sakura stood, pulling Kakashi up with her by the hand.

"I don't know whether to hate him or to be happy he's alive. I really did…I really loved him. But I think the boy I loved is dead. Sasuke may be alive, but I don't love whoever that man is."

"You can be happy he's alive and absolutely despise him at the same time. It's a blessing and a curse, being able to have so many emotions at once. But it's useless to try and martyr him, he doesn't deserve it, and he isn't actually dead. Whatever idealized version of him you grieved over isn't the real Sasuke, and probably never was. He's just a person, albeit a very strange, moody person."

"I hate that you're right."

"Another one of those things that's both a blessing and a curse."

They stood in silence for a few minutes more before Sakura spoke again.

"And now he's just leaving again? Not staying at all? He's the only person who knows anything about the seal, and Ketsuekigakure, and he isn't even going to stay to explain any of it to me. It's like nobody cares about the fact that I've been entered into some sort of psycho blood pact- "

"Hey, Sakura, look at me," Kakashi said, pulling her chin to face him. "Everybody cares about you, Sakura. I'm sure that Sasuke has sent the Hokage a trove of intelligence over the years, and I will be there through every step of your training. Nobody is going to make you handle this on your own. And as for Sasuke leaving, if the Hokage gives him a mission and he takes it, that's that. He's a Leaf shinobi, just like I am, just like you are. We serve and protect the Village, he's doing what any of us would do. Even if he does take it to an extreme."

Sakura sighed, wrapping her arms around herself.

"I know you're right, but it sucks."

"It definitely sucks."

"It sucks absolute balls."

"It sucks sweaty old man balls."

Sakura finally cracked a smile, giggling. Even when she was depressed, Kakashi could bring some light into her world.

She turned again to the gravestone and sighed deeply.

"Well, I guess we don't need this anymore."

Sakura laid one pointer finger on the stone, right over Sasuke's name. Concentrating as much chakra as she dared into the tip of her nail, she released it all into the marble.

The one-ton slab squealed under the pressure, then exploded into a huge cloud of dust that blasted backward into the field, flecks of mica dancing in the twilight.

She turned on her heel, passing a slack-jawed Kakashi as she strode back towards town.

"I could really go for some dumplings; don't you think so, sensei?"

* * *

Three grey cloaks sat under an outcropping of stone, hidden from the moonlight under a deep blanket of mist. If one were to walk past them, they would never see a thing, but they might have smelled a coppery twinge in the air.

A damp, smoldering fire smoked in the niche of rock, casting strange shadows over their faces. Only one sat with her hood down, condensation shaping short red hair into tiny spikes.

"The sweet Iho had much potential, I felt it in her blood," the woman spoke, almost forlornly. "She will be dangerous with the seal's chakra. It is such a pity she will have to die."

"It was a pity that our Village was destroyed, Saya," spat one of the other cloaks. "It is a pity that our brothers and sisters died." The fraying black braid that trailed from the hood almost seemed to become sentient and writhe with annoyance.

"It is a pity, Manami. It is all so sad, is it not? There will be so much more to be sad about before this is all over, I fear."

"Those who have wronged us will pay," came the voice of the third cloak, grave and deep. Both women turned to it as it spoke. "The shinobi villages will pay, the Kage will pay. And 'sweet Iho' will meet her fate soon enough."

From underneath the cloak, a hand emerged, holding a small slip of paper. It was tossed into the dying embers as the three figures rose and disappeared into the mist.

If someone had snuck into the not-quite-cave and peered into the ash just then, they could have read the writing on the slip before it curled up into the smoke. They might have seen ICHIRAKU in bold type, right across the top.

But nobody did, and soon the tide would rise, and draw the evidence into ocean forever.


	6. Training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: violence including self-mutilation

* * *

_A heavy fog curled over the surface of the water, creeping through the night like a feral animal._

_The night was still, silent save for the quiet lapping of water at the edge of a small stone island._

_Two figures stood there, knee deep in the mist, one male, one female._

_The man was stiff, an unmoving statue clad in a grey cloak, as the woman moved slowly around the stone in circles, moving closer and closer to the center with each step. She wore a long, trailing jūnihitoe, layer upon layer of red and black silk swishing with each step. The seal embroidered over the back of her neck seemed to glow in the moonlight, a circle of white thread crossed by a thick red line._

" _Are you sure this is really necessary?"_

" _I am, Ichiro. I am prepared to make a sacrifice for the greater good."_

" _Have you considered that staying alive might do more for the greater good?"_

" _I have considered many things, brother. I have considered the deaths of the people, the deaths of our clan. The death of my child," the woman said, kneeling in the middle of the island. From within the folds of her kimono, she produced a small, fine blade. "I serve my greatest purpose in this way."_

" _You won't serve anything if you aren't around, Chi."_

_The woman looked at him sharply, long white hair whipping through the air behind her._

" _I am_ serving  _those whose aren't around. Our clan has been destroyed! War has ravaged countries, eviscerated families. The shinobi villages, their Shadows, they seek nothing but vengeance. They fight over beasts, primitive animals they force into children's bodies. They battle for control of our kekkai-genkai and for power. These villages are machines, caked in blood, running on flesh. They must all be destroyed, Ichiro." Chi sighed, turning the blade over between her fingers, moonlight glinting off of the polished steel._

" _I know this Chi, but we should fight together. We are the last of the Ketsu clan, it's insane for you to_ die  _in this war as well."_

" _I am not dying in this war. I am dying for the end of wars."_

_Chi closed her eyes, ending the conversation._

_Her skin began to glow dimly, chakra boiling and bubbling along her veins until she was a red beacon of light in the middle of an empty abyss. As her hair began to crackle and float with static, Chi lifted her blade to the sky._

" _I give my blood to you, Ichiro. I give my blood to the end of this."_

_Chi pressed the blade into her wrist and dragged, ripping her arm open to the elbow. She did not flinch as steel peeled through layers of muscle and viscera, releasing a flood of brightly glowing blood. She slammed her flat palm into the center of the stone island, the sound of splintering from deep within the earth emanating from underneath. Chi's blood flowed, fiery red and violent, burning sigils over every inch of exposed rock. Drops of it sizzled as they rolled into the lake. The smell of burning stone and blood putrefied the air. The earth shook and water roiled._

_Almost as quickly as it began, the commotion stopped. Fog and waves settled into stillness, leaving only the smoking sigil and an acrid smell in the air as proof of what had just occurred. The silence was tense and heavy._

_Chi's body remained upright momentarily, before falling into a sickening slump. Ichiro approached the unmoving heap of silk, one tear rolling down his cheek. He knelt and pulled her into his lap. Tendrils of her hair were stained pink, blood soaking into the pearlescent strands._

_Looking down into the dead-eyed carcass that had once been the only family he had left, Ichiro howled, a piercing scream that rang through the night._

* * *

Sakura woke up with a start, skull vibrating with the sound of screaming. A fine sheen of sweat covered her body, chest heaving with every sharp intake of breath. Inside, her heart was hammering against her ribs at a mile a minute. Any traces of sleep were long gone now.

Untangling herself from her blankets, Sakura headed for her small kitchenette. She snatched a bottle of water from the fridge, cracking it open and draining the whole thing in seconds. Her skin felt hot, her nerves screaming with adrenaline. The runaway pace of her heart showed no signs of slowing down.

Sakura took long strides to the window and wrenched it open, desperate to feel a breeze against her skin. She stuck her head outside, gulping down the night air greedily.

 _What the hell kind of nightmare,_ she thought to herself, grasping at the fuzzy edges of a dream that was already fading from her memory. All that remained was a bright red light and the scream shooting through her brain. Sakura's heart gradually slowed down, but her muscles still tensed with stress and agitation. Her fingers gripped the windowsill, small splinters flaking off under her fists.

"Well, hell," she muttered to herself in the dark, empty apartment. Sakura stared at her alarm clock in defeat, knowing that at 2:45 am, she had no chances of falling back asleep. Too wired to stay put, she popped out of the open window and into the balmy summer night.

Sakura leaped from roof to roof, heading for the training grounds. She could well enough assume why her body felt like this, considering she could feel her own blood as it pumped through her veins in a way she never had before. But she couldn't begin to imagine why she felt so suddenly tense, or how to release the energy building inside of her like a bomb. The sun was still far below the horizon and here she was, racing through the trees and rooftops like a genin late for assignment.

Sweat began to ooze from her pores in the humid night, making the silky camisole she hadn't bothered to change out of cling uncomfortably to the small of her back. Sakura hadn't really noticed she was still in her pajamas until she was already deep in the trees around the training grounds, and by then she couldn't find the will to care. Energy and adrenaline had spiked in her bloodstream, and her run through the village had only barely taken the edge off. How was it that Lee and Gai worked off all of that excess energy?

Sakura landed in the familiar clearing, at last, balancing almost daintily on the middle of the three posts. Yamato had done an excellent job in repairing the landscape, as usual. Part of her felt that familiar twinge of guilt, knowing she would only pulverize it again, but it quickly evaporated.

From her position in the center of the clearing, Sakura scanned the tree line, eyes adjusting fully to the moonlit arena. In the distance, she spied a small bird taking flight. She huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes as she set herself to work.

* * *

It was several hours later that two men stood in the clearing, significantly larger now, staring in awe.

"I think she might be going crazy."

Dozens upon dozens of trees had been cleared from the forest edge, piles of leaves and bark littering the ground in their place. The earth was absolutely ravaged, crevasses gouging so deep in the earth that they bared bedrock to the sun for the first time in centuries, stretching almost to the riverbank. Somewhere, a tree snapped in half with a loud groan, echoing through the training ground as the trunk hit the ground.

"This does seem to be a rather excessive use of force, even for Sakura."

"Excessive?" Naruto choked out, strangled. "Sai, she broke the ground. The  _ground_. It's literally gone."

The two shinobi edged carefully around the destroyed landscape, avoiding any unstable patches of earth that threatened to tumble into the fresh abyss. At the edge of the river, Sakura sat with her feet dangling into the rushing water. Sweat streamed down her neck and back, soaking completely through her camisole as her chest heaved with heavy breaths. She gave the two a cursory nod as they approached, too focused on catching her breath to say hello. Besides, she was still annoyed with the orange one.

"Are you good?"

"Eat shit, Naruto."

Naruto plopped onto the ground beside Sakura, apparently forgetting at the moment that she had become murder walking. "Sakuraaaa-chan! How long are you going to be mad at me?" he whined, a childish pout squeezing his lips. As angry as she still was, she still found herself weak in the face of Naruto's sheer childish affection. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she leaned forward on her knees.

"Consider it a work in progress."

Sai sat on her other side then, much more ceremoniously.

"Good morning, Sakura."

"Morning, Sai. How're you?"

"Much better than you are, it seems. Thank you for asking."

"I hate you."

"I hate you too," he said, smiling so sweetly she couldn't help but to smile back. Her first one of the day, in fact. It figured that teasing was the first social cue he ever mastered. Sakura stretched her arms out in front of her, dipping her fingers into the rushing river waters. The water was moving faster than normal, starting to froth white, as the pressure broke a weak wall of earth between her giant crater and the river. Water streamed into the pit, slowly filling up a murky puddle of a lake.

"It does look a little extreme, doesn't it?" she muttered, eyeing the scene of devastation behind her.

"A little?" Naruto asked, laughing. "I think this is worse than anything I've  _ever_ done to public property."

"I was restless. I don't know what to do with all this energy. I was just doing strength training at first, but I got kind of…"

"Carried away," Naruto finished for her, nodding with understanding.

Sakura looked into his eyes, shoulders sagging with relief.

Sakura may have long since developed her monstrous strength, but this power and energy she had now were something new entirely. Part of her truly felt like a monster now. She could still feel flames licking at the inside of her veins in a way that felt very much out of her control. If there was anyone she could trust to understand that, it was the knucklehead sitting beside her. That boy was chock-full of demon power and somehow hadn't burned completely from the inside out. Sakura was momentarily struck again by just how hard the jinchūriki's life must have been, forming a new understanding of the outbursts and unchecked mania of his youth. Sakura had just aerosolized half of a forest with her hyperactive energy, and she thought of herself as an adult with good self-control.

"Yeah. Carried away."

The three sat there in a warm silence as the sun crept higher into the sky. The heat eventually dried out the fabric of Sakura's pajamas, making them stiff and smelly. The quiet was broken by the low grumble of Naruto's stomach, pulling laughs from the other two, much to the blonde's embarrassment.

"I burn a lot of calories!" he yelled defensively, only making them laugh louder.

"C'mon, I'll make breakfast," Sakura managed to squeeze out between giggles, clutching her side as she stood up. She might have had an unusual amount of power at her disposal, but her body still ached from the abuse. She'd have to give herself a serious once-over when she got home. "Last one there has to do the dishes."

* * *

Sakura had made tea and started a pot of rice, before handing it over to Sai ( _No, Naruto, I really_ don't  _think you're capable of boiling water without burning down my house_ ) and excusing herself for a much-needed shower. Dirt and sawdust caked her like a second skin, tracked along the dried streams of sweat like war paint on her shoulders.

Icky.

Sakura may have been a kunoichi, able to withstand anything and everything, but that didn't mean she liked being dirty. Her years of hospital training had predisposed her to the comforts of neatness and cleanliness. Her muscles wept with joy under the scalding stream of water as she scrubbed shampoo through her hair, strawberry bubbles streaming down the drain. Little piles of dirt collected at the corners of the tub and Sakura swiped her foot over them in annoyance, ushering them down the drain. Rinsing the grime from her skin was like wiping off all of her frustrations of the past week.

There was honestly nothing as therapeutic as a good, hot shower.

Moving quickly, because she only trusted Sai with the rice because she  _couldn't_ trust Naruto, Sakura pulled a chenille robe around herself and stood in front of her mirror to inspect herself.

She left the robe untied, dropping her towel to look critically over her body for any sign of injury. She had mostly only suffered a few scratches and splinters from flying twigs, but one ugly bruise blossomed over her stomach. Sakura laid her palm over the area, wincing slightly as she remembered the huge oak that had fallen a little too quickly to avoid, pinning her to the ground and knocking the wind from her lungs. That had been the moment she'd gotten truly frustrated, unleashing hell on the very undeserving landscape.

Sakura shrugged at her reflection and focused healing chakra into her palm, intending to heal the sickly purple contusion. But as she flooded the edge of her conscious down into her own skin to direct her chakra, she was caught off guard by something unusual. Her awareness seemed incredibly, incredibly acute; as if she could feel every striated pump of arterial tissue squeezing her senses. The sensation rocked her on her heels, throwing her back into real time with a sharp intake of breath. For a second, Sakura stared incredulously at her hand, before being overtaken by sheer medical curiosity.

Again, she probed her chakra at her belly, dropping herself into that hyper-awareness of her own blood flow and body tissue. Slowly, she spread to the pooling blood just layers under her skin. There, she experimentally twitched the forming clot, the blood loosening back into fluid. She guided the blood back into the smashed vessels, building them back together cell by cell with an ease and finesse that even surprised herself.

Sakura had never been able to feel so physically aware of what was occurring under the skin. Yes, working as a medic-nin as she did was largely based on feel. Battlefield triage was not designed for open surgery with high visibility, instead built on the healing properties of intensely focused chakra being carefully directed to speed up healing processes and regenerate destroyed cells.

But the techniques did come with some minor shortcomings. As chakra left a healer's body, awareness of what that chakra was doing weakened bit by bit until both dissipated into nothing; this was why medic-nin required such controlled, well-developed stamina. It necessitated precise chakra control and a seemingly endless ability to create a steady stream of it. Otherwise, the mental and physical connection established between a medic and their patient's wounds would break, wasting precious time and risking severely adverse effects. However, science and chakra could usually only be pushed so far. You could only become so aware of another body, only connect to a foreign nervous system to a particular degree.

Sakura found herself wondering if this hyper-awareness only functioned for her own body, or if she could use it to enhance her medical service.

Sakura prodded the skin of her stomach, a smile breaking across her face. Maybe she had gotten something good from this deal after all. She tied her robe in place, feeling satisfied, and left the steamy bathroom.

In the kitchen, Sai was peering suspiciously into the pot of rice, holding a wooden spoon in his hand like a weapon.

"Sai, did you literally ever learn to feed yourself?" she chided lightly, hip-checking him out of her way and taking the spoon. Sakura turned down the flame and put a lid on the pot, hoping that it wasn't ruined, before rummaging through the fridge to find the eggs.

"I am quite proficient at cooking that does not involve heat, yes."

"That's not cooking, that's making a sandwich."

"Sustenance is sustenance."

"It's like you  _want_ me to feed you out of pity."

"I have no idea where you would get an idea like that."

"Sure you don't, Sai."

While her head was in the fridge, a knock sounded from the door.

"Can you get that, Naruto?"

The man in question was currently slurping from a styrofoam ramen container, clearly too impatient to even wait for freshly made breakfast. Although, Sakura thought, he was still just as likely to chow down whatever she put in front of him. The guy was just an endless pit. He nodded his head with a mouthful of noodles, slurping them up with a wet pop.

"IT'S OPEN!"

"Idiot, I could have done that. You just left my door unlocked, while I was in the shower?" she asked, annoyed. She threw an egg at him, which he caught neatly before it could crack against his cheek. He tossed it back to her, and she cracked it into a bowl with a pout. She missed the days when he had been too clueless to catch things like that.

"What is a lock gonna do that we can't?" he replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Uzumaki, one of these days I am going to leave you to the wolves that so clearly raised you."

"I think that would be considered animal cruelty, actually." There was the sound of the front door being closed and locked, and a certain silver-haired ninja wandered around into the kitchen from the hall, hands in his pockets. Sakura smiled that breathtaking smile at him, and again he was grateful for his personal style choices. It just wouldn't do for people to be seeing his jaw constantly dropping when she so much as smiled at him. That might start tipping people off.

"You're both mean," Naruto huffed. He went very much ignored.

"Morning, Kakashi, would you like some breakfast?" she offered, reaching for the bowls in her cupboards. Kakashi walked over and pulled them down for her, being very, very discreet about the glance traveling up the exposed skin of her thigh when she was reaching for the cupboards.

"I could never say no to breakfast."

"Not free breakfast, at least," she snarked, grinning. Kakashi bowed his head with a humored crinkle of his eye and took a seat at the table beside Naruto. Sai stepped to Sakura's side, ready to lend a hand as she began to fill the bowls. He picked them up as he moved to take his seat, handing them off to the other two men. Sakura held her own in her hands as she leaned against the counter, looking at her boys, Sai and Naruto already bickering about something or other. A small smirk crawled over her cheek, watching Kakashi waver slightly in his spot, waiting for the perfect moment to slip down his mask without being noticed by the boys. Their eyes met, and he winked at her before yanking down his mask to shovel down his rice and eggs, so fast Sakura was shocked he didn't choke. Just as quickly, he pulled it back into place, settling against the back of his chair as if nothing at all had happened. The slightest blush blossomed over Sakura's cheeks and she giggled, giddy to now be allowed in on the joke. It was exhilarating, in more ways than one.

"Sensei, did you hear about what Sakura did to the trainin' field?" Naruto asked through a mouthful of food. Sakura suddenly felt very shy and found something interesting to stare at in the bottom of her bowl. It probably wasn't the most attractive and womanly behavior to go around destroying huge tracts of land, but she couldn't pretend she wasn't itching to go wreak more havoc. Yamato definitely hated her. She really owed him a favor or two.

Kakashi quirked one eyebrow up in question, eye flicking carefully between Sakura's ducked head and Naruto's excited grin.

"What did she do this time?"

"She broke the  _river_ , man. She made her own  _lake._ "

* * *

While Naruto had technically lost on the race to her apartment, Sakura didn't trust him to wash her dishes without breaking at least half of them, and instead sent him on his way, Sai following soon after. That hadn't been a surprise. What  _was_ surprising was when Kakashi had taken the sponge from her hand and insisted that she let him handle it while she got dressed. She had protested in vain while he dangled the sudsy sponge just out of her reach, before giving up and stomping into her bedroom.

Sakura stood now in front of her mirror, smoothing her usual skirt into place over her shorts. She hadn't really worn it for a while and found herself less fond of it than usual. She posed in the mirror, squinting at her reflection when three soft knocks rapped on her half-open bedroom door.

"I think I need a new outfit."

"Oh?" Kakashi asked, coming into Sakura's view in the mirror as he entered.

"I'm bored of the pink."

"Hmm…"

"You aren't?"

"I'm actually pretty fond of pink," he said quietly, wrapping his arms around her midsection and burying his nose in her still-damp hair. The scent of her shampoo encircled his senses in a truly intoxicating way. Sakura twisted in his embrace to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her cheek to his chest.

"You're very sweet, but I meant my uniform."

"What's wrong with your clothes? I think they're cute."

Sakura pushed away from him, mouth open in mock-offense. "If my clothes are  _cute,_  I definitely need an update. I need Ino to take me shopping, immediately. I'm changing."

"You look very nice in green," Kakashi suggested, leaning against the wall and watching while she returned to her closet. She tried to hide the blush that rose in response to his words, ducking deep into her hung clothes, but it was useless. Even the smallest compliments were flustering her now. She was momentarily struck by the realization that even though they had already slept together, whatever  _this_  thing between them was, it was still undefined, making her feel shy and bashful in a way she hadn't in years. She knew he cared about her and she knew he was attracted to her, but that didn't automatically mean they were together, or even that they were moving towards that. All she really knew was that she really, really liked him. Kakashi taught her so much, he supported her in her work, he gave her a shoulder to cry on when she was at her lowest. And he had done her  _dishes_. Maybe things weren't defined, but even Sakura knew she had it bad.

That just left her to wonder what Kakashi felt. Which wasn't exactly the most comforting thing to have unanswered.

"I can work with that," she managed to say, rifling through various things on hangers. Finally, she pulled a sage green vest out from the closet and threw it on her bed, before diving back in to find another pair of shorts. When she found what she was looking for, she stripped off her clothes without much thought.

Kakashi's throat tightened as she slid her deceptively long legs into a pair of high-waisted, cruelly short spandex shorts. The fabric snapped against her muscles like a second skin, and from his position behind her, Kakashi was afforded a generous view of her full hips and backside, leading his thoughts slightly astray while she pulled her top on. When she turned to face him, he saw that the vest she wore now had a higher collar, but the neckline opened to slightly past her collarbone, zipper reaching from her sternum to the waist of her shorts.

"How's this? I won't be as hot as I usually am," she said, already wrapping her thigh with bandaging and her holster.

 _I'd say you're hotter,_ he thought to himself, but decided to keep that little nugget to himself. "You need a new shuriken holster," he said instead, pointing vaguely to the worn strap around her thigh, just beginning to fray.

"I'll keep it in mind," she replied, shoving her feet into her sandals before standing up straight and looking at him. Kakashi pretended not to be struck dumb by the way her hair glowed from the sunlight streaming through the window, vibrant against her creamy skin and green vest, framing her like an angel. "So why did you tell me to get dressed?"

"Training, remember?"

Sakura's face fell for a fraction of a second, as she was again reminded of her situation. Sometime during their loud breakfast, surrounded by her boys and their endless chatter, she had forgotten about the seal and the fire that seemed to bank inside her chest. Sakura had half-expected to spend the day lounging around her apartment doing nothing, as she usually did in the few days following a mission. But even now she could feel the fire in her veins, flaring with the expectation for a fight. She wondered when she would feel calm again, remembering what Sasuke had said in Tsunade's office.

Her face brightened again when she remembered that morning in her bathroom. If nothing else, more training meant she could test her newfound limits.

"Then let's get moving, old man," Sakura said with a smile, making a move towards the door.

In a flash, Sakura found herself against the wall, both arms pinned to her sides and unable to move. Kakashi face was impossibly close to hers, so close she could feel the heat of his breath on her ear and neck as he spoke. "Watch who you call an old man, little girl."

Sakura's body jerked, shudders running up her spine with his words. She pushed against his grip, breaking her arms free to clutch at his jōnin vest and pull his body flush against hers. That unfounded confidence she had experienced the morning before returned as Sakura thought of the way Kakashi's hard, muscular body had felt pressed against her, pushed  _into_ her. Her gut clenched as the memory ghosted across her mind, a smile crossing her face. She batted her eyelashes as lasciviously as she could manage without laughing at herself, rolling her hips suggestively.

"And just who are you calling  _little_?"

Kakashi pulled away from her, which was no small feat considering her vise-like grip. He laughed and ruffled his hand through Sakura's hair, and she swatted at his wrist.

"That'd be you, princess."

When Sakura moved forward to grab at him again, he dodged away, jumping lithely around her tiny bedroom. She giggled, chasing him through her apartment and out the window.

* * *

Sakura managed to catch up with him in the training grounds, jumping down on him from above and tackling him to the ground. They'd ended up in a different area than normal, since Sakura had destroyed their preferred one no more than six hours earlier. They were in training ground 12, an area that backed up further to the mountains than most others. Trees jutted this way and that out of cracks in the huge, craggy rocks, copses of trees trailing into the valley to surround them. Sakura was breathless, but almost buzzing with energy as she clenched her arms around Kakashi's midsection, sending them both rolling across the ground.

"Sakura: one. Sensei: zero," she said, laughing.

"It doesn't count if I let you catch me, you know," Kakashi replied, but he didn't move, laying on his back and letting Sakura rest her chin on his chest.

"Sure it does. I took you down. If you like me too much to hit me, that sounds like a personal problem."

"That would pretty much defeat the point of coming to train, wouldn't it?"

"Probably. I could hit you first if that makes it easier on you."

"You'd have to catch me to do that."

"But I already caught you," Sakura said teasingly, squeezing her arms around Kakashi's middle to prove her point.

"Are you sure about that?" he replied, winking at her.

"Huh?"

Sakura's arms were suddenly clutching at nothing, a small and acrid puff of smoke surrounding her as she slumped to the ground. Sputtering, she scrambled to her feet and fanned the smoke away from her face, trying to spot her mentor in the woods around her.

Sakura's mind worked quickly. Kakashi knew she was familiar with his tricks and knew what damage she could do to the ground, so chances were slim that he had decided to hide underground. The only sound in the treetops was the dull whistle of the wind through the leaves. Sakura closed her eyes, focusing on her other senses in order to find her opponent.

_Thump-thump. Thump-thump._

Sakura's eyes flew open.

_There._

Sakura leaped straight up into the sky, bursting out over the treetops and landing precariously on the crown of a particularly tall tree. She grinned, seeing Kakashi perched on a mountain cliff, hiding behind a boulder. The shock of silvery hair glinted in the sunlight as he ducked out of sight, but Sakura was already moving, whipping through curtains of leaves. As she made her last jump from tree limb to the mountainside, she channeled her chakra to stream through her muscle fibers, turning them to steel cables. The branch she leaped from crunched and tumbled underfoot, crashing to the forest floor. Sakura raised her glowing fist and smashed it through the boulder, shards of rock exploding into the air. As the stone disintegrated under her blow, Kakashi jumped up to avoid the blowout.

"Found you, sensei."

"But you haven't caught me."

Kakashi formed the hand seal, and a shadow clone cracked into existence beside him. The clone took him by the arm and threw his weight to the side, redirecting Kakashi's movement through the air. He hit the ground on the downward slope, running flat out down the side of the mountain and back into the valley. Sakura followed at top speed. She tore down the mountainside, every footstep gouging fresh wounds into the earth.

Kakashi pushed off of the rocky ground, landing on a tree that protruded from the side of the mountain, using it to spring off into the air. Sakura followed his steps, only to find the tree had been tagged.

"Damn it!" she cursed, jumping back up the side of the mountain just in time to avoid the explosion. Her momentum carried her backwards up the mountain, chakra-flooded feet scraping shallow ditches in the stone as she readied herself to spring down towards the valley floor.

Sakura flew through the air, weightless. The wind screamed past her ears, hair flying out wildly behind her. She let out a triumphant scream as she sailed through the air, absolutely exhilarated. Sakura balled herself up into a cannonball as she got closer to the ground, bracing for impact.

Sakura hit the ground with an ear-shattering boom. A plume of dirt and dust mushroomed into the air, leaves flying through the breeze. When the dust cleared, she was scrambling out of the pit she had made, clawing herself up the five-foot-deep wall of dirt she was at the bottom of.

When she reached the grassy floor of the small clearing, Kakashi appeared in front of her, eye crinkled with a smile.

"Very impressive, Sakura."

"I do my best."

"But you'll have to do better than that."

"Note taken," she said with a grin and charged.

Hand to hand combat was where they both excelled, and what followed was a match worth buying tickets for.

Sakura charged at Kakashi, ready to drive her fist into his stomach. He jumped, neatly avoiding the blow. His hands landed on her shoulders, as he flipped over her head and landed behind her. Sakura whirled to face him, only trip over the leg he dropped and spun around to knock her off her ankles. She landed on her back but wasn't ready to go down. Kakashi stood over her, just a hair too close for his own good.

Sakura rolled her weight back to her shoulders and then forward through her legs, slamming her foot square into Kakashi's chest, sending him flying and her to her feet. Kakashi righted himself and skidded backwards in the grass, landing in a crouch.

Sakura jumped after him, ready to land a kick against his skull from midair. Too fast to see, his hand reached and caught her ankle, blocking her attack and giving Kakashi the leverage to swing her away from his face. He let Sakura's momentum carry her over his head, intending to throw her into the woods. Sakura, seeing his plan in the seconds before he carried it out, twisted violently in his grip. Trying to keep his hold on her ankle, Kakashi was knocked off-center by her weight and began pitching forward into the ground.

She managed to land on her hands, kicking her feet over her head in a very awkward flip, using Kakashi's hold on her leg to throw him into the air as he lost his balance. He lost his hold on her, tumbling through the air and landing on his feet. Sakura spun on her hands and pushed herself back onto her feet in a defensive stance to face Kakashi. Both were panting, sweat pouring down their foreheads, squinting at each other.

"Nice move, I wonder who taught you that."

"Some say he's a genius. I say he's a lecher."

This time, Kakashi charged at Sakura. He came in close, and Sakura snapped out her arm, ready to attack. Kakashi ducked, but it was too late. Sakura's fist connected with his shoulder, making him spin in place. Seeing an opening, Sakura moved to grab his upper arm and pin him to the ground.

When Sakura's palm connected, she was hit with that same all-encompassing awareness, but this time it was of Kakashi's physical body, not her own. Time seemed to stand still as all of Sakura's consciousness streamed from her palm and through Kakashi. Her instincts still surged, compelling her to attack, but she wasn't in charge of what was happening anymore. Her chakra and battle instincts acted on their own volition. Sakura  _felt_ his blood pressure tank,  _felt_ his heartbeat go weak and fall out of rhythm. Sakura's entire body felt each belabored squeeze of his heart as his blood no longer cooperated with his cardiovascular system. She tried desperately to rein in the chakra flooding his system, panic setting in as he began losing consciousness. She came back fully to herself as Kakashi's body sagged to the ground.

Sakura had to pinch herself, hard, to throw off the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. She had never,  _ever_ in memory been able to do that. As a medic-nin, doing something like that was so wildly taboo she couldn't even begin to reconcile herself with it. But insofar as it was taboo, it wasn't even possible. Shinobi triage and medicine was an influence of the body, not control of it.

Sakura positioned Kakashi flat on his back, and very, very carefully gathered healing chakra in her palms. She was almost too scared to risk touching him again to heal him, lest it run amok in his system again. Nevertheless, Sakura let her cool chakra seep into the muscles of his chest, tweaking the muscle tissue of his heart to slowly adjust his blood pressure back to normal. She focused heavily, refusing to let herself be overwhelmed by the sensation of his bloodstream and every twitch of his muscles.

"Kakashi-sensei? Can you hear me?"

"Hnngh…"

Sakura snapped her fingers next to his ear, trying to revive him, one hand still massaging his heart and arteries. "Yeah, yeah, wake up. C'mon, you're okay, you're gonna be okay…"

"'Okay' seems optimistic."

"Oh, thank god," Sakura said, with a deep sigh. She flopped flat on her back, body sagging with relief. "I thought I'd killed you."

" _I_  thought you'd killed me."

"I think…I think that had something to do with the seal," she murmured, looking up at the sky. Sakura mulled it over in her mind. Since she had woken up in the caverns, she had been inundated with a fire in her veins, that was only barely beginning to fade as each day passed. When she tried to isolate and control her chakra now, it was hijacked by that same fire, acting on instinct alone.

"I'd call that a safe guess," Kakashi replied, slowly sitting up and rolling his neck. "I brought you out here to see what's changed, but something like that might be too far out of my wheelhouse."

"I don't know  _anybody_ who has this in their wheelhouse. I mean, Tsunade…maybe…"

"Well, I know where we can start," Kakashi said, standing and offering a hand to Sakura. She took it, letting him pull her to her feet. She laid the back of hand against the slightly exposed skin of his cheek, checking to make sure his temperature had leveled out and he was no longer breaking into a cold sweat.

"Where's that?"

"Sasuke's records."


	7. Intimacy

The midafternoon sun bore down on Sakura's shoulders as she and Kakashi walked through the streets of the village. He was guiding her little by little, nudging her in the right direction as she walked, nose barely three inches from the papers in her hands.

They had gone to the Hokage tower straight from the training fields. It would have been deeply unlike Sakura to wait any length of time before getting ahold of the documents, anyway. She hadn't even waited to speak with Tsunade before taking them, instead leaving a note on Shizune's desk and leaving through the window. Sakura was ready to pour through them in the comfort of her own home. With them in her hands, she already felt a sense of calm that had eluded her for days now. Her eyes scanned the characters in front of her, taking mental notes of what she would need to check and recheck in the library later. The answers to all of her questions were hopefully buried somewhere in these documents.

Sakura and Kakashi were each laden with scrolls and files, winding their way back towards her apartment. While Sakura lost herself in the piles of information, Kakashi paged through his well-worn copy of Icha Icha. He knew better than to try and interrupt her while she was so focused on her reading. The most he could really hope to do was steer her clear of running directly into and walls or pedestrians.

They walked along in a comfortable silence, every so often punctured by a soft hum from Sakura's throat as she flipped through her scrolls. Eventually, they neared her apartment, getting closer to the civilian district and the little market hubs that littered the corners in this neighborhood. Soon they were close enough that Sakura finally had to come back to real life, digging around in her pockets for her keys.

"I need to make cookies."

"…cookies?" Kakashi asked, a little thrown by how absolutely  _domestic_ that had sounded.

"Yes,  _cookies_ ," she repeated, the slightest blush blooming over her nose as she unlocked the gate to her building. "I told my neighbor I'd make them for her. I want her to keep watering my plants, don't I?"

"But of course. Sounds perfectly reasonable." Kakashi didn't even try to keep the laughter out of his voice. Sakura shot him a half-hearted glare as they walked up the stairs, exasperated before they had even gotten to her floor. She only held it together for a few seconds before she cracked, a smile growing on her face.

"See if I let you have any then, jerk," she teased.

"Oh, now that's just cruel."

"Tsunade always did criticize my bedside manner," Sakura said, shouldering open her door. She dropped the stacks of paper onto her kitchen table, then stretched her arms over her head. All the discs of her spine cracked with a satisfying  _pop, pop, pop,_ tension straining in her shoulders. Kakashi walked up beside her, dropping his own piles of intel onto the edge of the table.

"Everything is in knots," she whined, rolling her neck in creaky circles. Every time she expended her chakra now, her muscles ached for ages afterward, unused to such strong flows of energy. It had taken years for her to train and strengthen her body to withstand the abuse of what she  _used_ to do with it. It could take Sakura another half a decade to acclimate her body to the strain she was capable of putting it through now, and the thought exhausted her. The muggy heat that weighed down the Konoha air did nothing to help. She gathered her hair above her head, trying to fan a breeze over her sweaty neck.

"Hmm…," Kakashi hummed, moving behind her. He tentatively began working his hands into the muscles of her shoulders. At first, Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin, every sense on edge with Kakashi's closeness. But as the rough tips of his fingers pressed and rolled the muscles of her neck and shoulders, she melted backward into his touch, little moans catching on the inside of her throat.

"Where did you learn to do this? We don't even learn therapeutic massage this deep during basic hospital training."

"You don't get through ANBU without knowing all of the body's pressure points."

"Hmmm…" The tension drained from her muscles. Kakashi's large, warm hands pushed harder into her back, moving towards her back to work out the knots and kinks that trailed her spine. Every movement of his hands was magic, wringing out the pain and anxiety and melting her body like sugar.

Sakura moaned again, louder this time, most of her body going momentarily limp for a split second as the man's sure hands worked an especially savage crack out of the center of her spine. She leaned forward heavily, most of her weight landing on her palms as she fell on her table. At this angle, Kakashi's hands had more leverage and pushed deeper into her ribs and ligaments, forcing out satisfied hums from deep in her chest.

As his massaging hands began grazing low on her back, almost to her hips, the warmth of his touch melted into her belly and loosened her hips. Sakura's breath gusted out of her lungs as she laid her chest flat against the table, back arching. She sighed deeply as Kakashi's hands stilled on her hips, his grip so light it was almost imperceptible; but she could feel it, that his hands were holding her still, holding  _him_  still, stretching the moment into a pregnant pause.

Sakura shifted her weight back into her feet, Kakashi's hold tightening over her hips when her body moved. She felt his fingers gripping into her flesh, hard enough now to leave marks that would make her blush for days.

Sakura lazed in her position, hips shimmying just slowly enough that she could have denied doing anything at all.

Behind her, Kakashi's muscles were bunching in his back and shoulders under the soft fabric of his shirt. He strained to stay still, but the way Sakura laid herself out in front of him was just beyond irresistible. Her back arched so sharply that the hem of her top fell down her torso, exposing the pale skin of her lower back. The sight swiped every rational thought from Kakashi's brain. His teeth clenched, canines pinching the skin of his lip almost painfully. The noise that escaped his throat was a mangled growl, a sound that sent shudders through Sakura's body. Her movement bucked her hips against the front of Kakashi's pants, forcing another growl from his chest. Again, Sakura couldn't help but react to the noise, carnal desire ripping through every nerve in her body. The heat rose in her blood, goosebumps exploded across her skin. A pathetic mewl poured from between her lips, and she pushed her hips again into Kakashi's front, braver this time. She felt the hard twitch of muscle against her thigh, far too many layers of clothing between them.

Sakura shifted, trying to flip herself over to her back, but was stopped. One of Kakashi's fists gripped at Sakura's hair, pinning her to the table and refusing to let her move. He leaned over to hold her there, grinding himself harder into her backside. Sakura squeaked, surprised both by his roughness, and the fact that the sharp impact of her cheek against the table had made her gut twist, wetness seeping through her underwear. Sakura's hands scrabbled at the wood, scrolls falling to the ground and rolling across the floor. Her nails gouged into the table's surface as one of Kakashi's hands slid under her top, traveling over her stomach and making Sakura's skin bristle.

"Sensei,  _please_ ," she gasped, grinding her hips backward again, unable to move anything else. Every bit of Sakura's stress was wound into a tight ball in between her hips, screaming for release. Everything else – the seal, Sasuke, her anger, everything – it all disappeared as pressure built in her core. It was rare that she would relinquish control so completely, but here, with Kakashi's one hand forcing her into the table and the other pulling at the waistband of her shorts, she was giving it all up.

Sakura wiggled, helping Kakashi pull the tight fabric down over her hips and to her knees. He ripped easily through the bandages around her thigh, shuriken holster clattering to the ground. His hand palmed over her thigh, little static shocks zinging to her toes. She rolled onto her tiptoes, muscles in her calves flexing as she pushed herself further into Kakashi's hand. His fingers plucked at the edge of Sakura's black underwear, asking a question that she answered with a rock of her hips.

Sakura felt Kakashi pull her underwear down with her shorts and wrestle them off of her feet. The wetness between her thighs chilled in the naked air. She hissed as his fingertips traced between her thighs, teasing her, moving slowly. Sakura wriggled, impatient for more, making Kakashi chuckle softly. He pressed her head harder into the wood of the table, eliciting a guttural moan from her chest.

"I swear to  _god_ , sensei – oh  _fuck."_

Sakura knew what it did to Kakashi when she called him by that formal title, almost certainly because of Jiraiya's little books. And Kakashi knew that she knew it. He knew that she was trying to toy with him, trying to goad him into action by saying it. And that worked just fine for him, he thought, as he slapped her bare ass sharply. The skin bloomed red as a strangled cry spilled from her lips. Everything in her body was tight and shivering, begging to be touched and released.

"Kakashi, please…just…," she whined.

"Please what, Sakura?" Kakashi breathed, leaning over her back and pressing two fingers inside of her. Her knees shook and nearly gave out beneath her, her fists gripping and cracking the edges of the table. The wood splintered as his fingers pushed in and out, all of Sakura's muscles rolling in her gut. Adding a third finger, Kakashi made Sakura jolt and groan, a sound from deep within her chest that made his groin tighten impossibly more, wetness slicking over his fingers and knuckles deliciously. He rubbed over her clit, making Sakura bare her teeth and hiss, sweaty bangs sticking to her face. Every thrust and curl of his fingers inside of her pushed a moan from her throat, chest heaving and constricting with every surge of pleasure from her hips to shoulders. Unable to wait any longer, she forced her way out of Kakashi's grip, barely flinching as his fist wrenched her hair. She flipped onto her back, wrapping her legs around Kakashi's waist and locking her ankles. She all but crushed him against her, desperate and unwilling to wait.

"Are you going to make me say it?" she forced through gritted teeth.

"I've considered it," Kakashi replied coolly, gazing levelly at her with both eyes. He pulled her vest over her head, leaving Sakura naked on the table. She laid back on the wood impatiently, hair splaying wildly behind her head. Her legs still rested on either side of Kakashi's waist, gently pinning him and his throbbing member between her thighs. Burning waves of energy coursed through her veins, chakra ebbing and flowing with the excitement that pulsed through her. She wanted –  _needed_  – this, her desire exploding through her like lava. As direct and in control she had felt last time, she was wild and desperate now. When Kakashi had shoved her face into the table, grinding into her ass, animalistic urge had drowned out everything else in the world. Sakura was going to let him take control, the roughness and desperation between them bolstered by the dripping summer heat. Kakashi pulled his shirt over his head in one smooth gesture, leaving Sakura to stare dumbly for a few seconds as his hands returned to their place on her hips. He wore a fishnet shirt under his long-sleeved jōnin one, the way it clung and shaped to his body absolutely criminal. The bloody red swirl of his ANBU tattoo was tantalizing on his bicep, and Sakura felt oddly compelled to trace her nail along the twists of the ink. Instead, she gazed up into his eyes, drinking in the rare and wonderful sight of Kakashi's face, those soft pink lips that she'd think about every night for the rest of her life. Sakura rose up to kiss him, unable to resist. Her lips crashed into his, warm and forgiving as his tongue swiped gently against hers. Sakura broke the kiss and managed to wrestle his undershirt up and over his head, not smooth in the slightest, crumpling it into a ball and throwing it to the floor.

One eyebrow raised teasingly, Kakashi brought his right hand to his mouth. He slid one finger between his lips, tongue rolling over and sucking it, making a face that caused her clit to throb. Sakura stared, mesmerized but confused. That was until he lifted his hand to her mouth and swiped his slick fingers over her lips. She opened them to him obediently, mind going absolutely blank when she realized he'd been sucking her dribbling wetness from his fingers like a Sakura-flavored lollipop. A new wave of desire rocked through her, pelvic muscles curling deliciously.

" _Please_  just fuck me sensei, or I'm going to scream," she choked out, straining to pull him tighter against her.

"That's my girl," he said. His smile was so bright, it made Sakura dizzy. She didn't even realize how she smiled back, both of them lost in each other.

_My girl._

She clenched her legs tighter around his hips as he slid his hands under her, lifting her up and carrying her to her bedroom to throw her on the bed.

_My girl._

Sakura's sighs were breathy and light as Kakashi's lips trailed from her neck to her chest, between her breasts, down her stomach to her thighs. Little butterfly kisses, electrifying her every nerve.

_My girl._

Sakura's back arched when Kakashi finally slid into her, his weight bearing down into her, pushing him deeper inside. Every thrust pushed her into the mattress, delighted cries flying from her lips as Kakashi pounded into her.

_My girl._

Sakura's fingers and toes curled, muscles errant as her nerves twisted and bunched, pressure building in the bottom of her stomach. She clenched all her muscles as tightly as she could, forcing a guttural moan from Kakashi's lips. He pulled out and thrust back in, and she clenched again, hard. This time his entire body trembled, and he fell heavily to his elbow over Sakura. She laid on her back, legs crossed lazily over his waist to draw him deeper inside of her.

_My girl._

The orange glow of late afternoon sunlight streamed through the window, setting Kakashi's hair aflame, silver locks gleaming. His mismatched eyes were hot and liquid as he locked eyes with Sakura, dipping his head to kiss her deeply. Every thrust was deep, hard, driving Sakura to the edge with frenzying speed.

_My girl._

Sakura's vision tunneled, then when white. The tension and pressure that had built at that throbbing pinpoint between her legs had exploded, ripping through her so hard she arched off of the mattress. Goosebumps rose across her flesh, every nerve exploding like a firework, again and again as she rode out her orgasm. Kakashi thrust into her once, twice, three more times before he finished, rolling to collapse at her side as they both gasped for air.

_My girl._

Sakura rolled onto her side to face Kakashi and kiss him, deeply, saying more with a kiss than either of them could manage to say out loud.

* * *

Tendrils of Sakura's pink hair escaped her ponytail, small drops of water rolling down her forehead as she leaned and pulled a tray of cookies out of the oven. She dropped the hot tray on top of the stove to cool and turned towards her kitchen table, pulling off her oven mitts.

The table was strewn with documents and data, little piles of Sakura's notes littered everywhere. Kakashi was sitting at the head of the table, scanning through a thick pile of Sasuke's intel, every so often picking up a pen to scribble something on a sheet of paper. He was wearing one of Sakura's many, many robes because she had put on his shirt after their  _very long_ shower with zero intentions of giving it back to him. While the sleeves of Kakashi's shirt tumbled past her hands, the opposite was true here. Even though it was the biggest robe she owned, the sleeves fell comically short of his wrists, and every time his knees poked under from the bottom Sakura had to stifle a laugh. Something about his  _knees_  just made her feel hysterically giddy.

Sakura began moving the cookies from the tray and to a plate, thinking to herself.

Kakashi had been at her house dozens upon dozens, if not hundreds, of times. All the boys had. And it wasn't like she hadn't  _seen_  Kakashi's knees before. The man was an absolute idiot who loved to charge into battle without any regard for his own life. She'd repaired enough of his shattered tibias and kneecaps in the past few years to know his legs down to the marrow.

Sakura set aside a few of the cookies into a neat little box for Mrs. Kobayashi, putting the rest on a plate and turning back to him.

But now, with those legs stretched out under the table, knees peeking out from under the thick green terrycloth of the borrowed robe, everything seemed entirely  _new_. Thrillingly domestic.

She fought the blush that threatened to stain her cheeks as she set the plate of cookies down beside him, trying not to stare.

He hadn't even  _tried_  to cover his face, just tied on the robe obediently when Sakura had refused to give his shirt back. It didn't even fully close, his neck and chest bare to the world in a way that made Sakura almost dizzy. She pretended to be reading over his shoulder as she drank in his features, memorizing them.

Sakura wondered why he wore the mask. He was definitely attractive, but not outrageously beautiful; not like Haku had been, nothing that should necessitate him to be covering his face so much. Her eyes floated down the chiseled plane of his cheek to his lips, struck by the urge to stroke her hand against the short stubble ghosting over his chin. The scar that dragged at his eyelid was dark but flat, the mark of good stitching and a well-trained hand. She couldn't stop the corner of her lips from lifting in a tiny smile, seeing the small dot of his freckle just to the side of his mouth, a cute little mark in a statuesque face. It seemed so very reflective of who the man was: so much seriousness, betrayed by the small, sweet details.

"If I put the mask back on, do you think it might help you focus?" he teased, breaking the silence in the small apartment. Kakashi turned to look at Sakura, mirth dancing in his eyes as the blush broke out across her cheeks in earnest.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, straightening up quickly and ignoring Kakashi's chuckles. "I'm taking these to Mrs. Kobayashi now."

Sakura pretended not to hear him laughing after her as she walked out of her apartment and shut the door. She adjusted the small bow on the top of the cookie box and knocked on Mrs. Kobayashi's door.

The door swung open wide, a cloud of incense smoke enveloping Sakura in a haze of sandalwood and green tea. Mrs. Kobayashi glittered, racked with so many strands of costume jewelry Sakura was amazed the woman could stand. She pulled the taller pinkette into a rib-crushing hug, plastic pearls jutting into Sakura's cheek. She hugged back just as enthusiastically, always happy to see her warm, if eccentric, neighbor.

"Good evening, my little cherry blossom!"

"Good evening, Mrs. Kobayashi," Sakura said with a polite bow, holding out the box of cookies with both hands. "I made these for you this afternoon, just like I promised!"

The older woman took them with an oddly sly smile, spinning around to place them somewhere in the smoky confines of her home. "I'm surprised you found the time, dearie, you sounded so  _busy_  over there. Thank you so much, as always."

Sakura choked on her spit, almost having to catch the doorframe for balance. " _I'm sorry?_ "

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about, Sakura! I may be old, but I remember the pleasures I had as a young woman, and certainly the vigor of these young  _men_."

Sakura's entire body flushed, embarrassment raging in her cheeks. "I- I'm sure I have no clue what you're talking about–"

"We have thin walls, Sakura-chan, and you're wearing a man's shirt. But it's nothing to be embarrassed about," she said with a wave of her hand, shutting the door on Sakura's bright red face, "as long as I someday get to meet whoever the young man with such  _impressive_  stamina is. He must be quite a catch."

The door clicked shut softly, leaving Sakura alone in the silent corridor. Her jaw was dropped, eyes boring holes into the wood of her neighbor's door. First Ino, now Mrs. Kobayashi? Was everyone so annoyingly interested in her sex life? And was everybody going to be so annoyingly  _right?_  How long until they guessed something they shouldn't?

Sakura's mind raced, her body still stone in the hallway.

What  _would_ happen if someone realized something they shouldn't? Her quickly approaching appointment to jōnin status could certainly be called into question; accusations of favoritism and special treatment could squirm through the shinobi ranks like weeds. Ninja were notorious for being suspicious little gossipers, after all. It just kind of came with the territory, and Sakura had never cursed that fact so harshly as she did now. And what of Kakashi's reputation? To be involved with a girl who had once been his student? Even without their ages being called into question, it looked…well, not great.

But none of that  _meant_ anything, not really. The only "favoritism" Kakashi had ever shown her was when she finally became a viable option besides the hospital her so deeply hated. It had nothing to do with whatever  _this_ was that was happening between them now. Besides, Tsunade made those decisions and nobody was going to ever grow the balls to challenge Tsunade about her prized pupil's ability. That would just be a direct insult to the Hokage herself, even if it was aimed at Sakura.

And second, Kakashi and Sakura had long since stopped being teacher and student. Sometimes, she couldn't help herself from letting the old honorific slip and call him sensei, but it was more out of habit than any real role he still filled. Tsunade had been her teacher in the years before the war, and any real semblance of training as a "team" after Naruto had returned was mostly a joke. Their work had been to learn how to work together and keep Naruto from killing everyone in a blind rage; not to enhance Sakura's abilities. That still fell to Tsunade and Shizune. It was only now when she had been saddled with something  _completely insane_  that she needed to be under his instruction again.

Sakura shook her head, trying to clear it. Ignoring her desire to just lay on the hallway floor and wait for the landlady to sweep her up with the trash, she went back to her apartment. All of those worries could just be pushed away for now- somebody had to  _know_ about them for there to be an issue. And they were shinobi, very good shinobi in fact, and could absolutely keep this a secret, right?

Opening her door, Sakura let out a heavy breath and relaxed. At least behind the closed doors of her apartment, she could just enjoy the scent of ginger that seemed to accompany Kakashi everywhere he went. It mingled with the aroma of chocolate and melted butter that permeated her kitchenette, where he sat reading still, munching away distractedly on a cookie.

Unable to resist the urge, Sakura walked up behind him, circling her arms around his neck and holding him close. She put the negative thoughts out of her mind, deciding just to enjoy what she had, giving it a soft kiss on the cheek.

"What was that for?" he asked, pretending like the lightest of blushes didn't blossom from the spot her lips had touched. Sakura dropped into the chair beside him, searching through the papers distractedly.

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know. For making my day better, for helping me with all of this," she said, gesturing to the mess of scrolls and notes across her table, "For being so nice to me? Who cares?"

Kakashi's mouth curled into a smug little smirk. "Yeah, who cares?" he answered, then leaned forward, too quickly for Sakura to react. He captured her lips with his, a strong, electric kiss that tore her breath away. She grabbed a cookie and started chewing, trying to find something to fill her mouth before she screamed with the glee of an academy girl. She could live in this moment forever.

Instead, she swallowed and started leafing through the piles of intel in front of her. She found the document she had been annotating before she had gotten distracted by the running shower, she began to read.

_The Blood Clan Seal conceals a tremendous power. The Ketsu clan holds a kekkai-genkai that binds their chakra to the blood, giving them unprecedented control over their own chakra and physical bodies, along with inimitable durability._

_Chi Ketsu ingrained her life force into the seal with her death, making her power a weapon to be used by her brother to undermine the power of the Shinobi Nations. The fuinjutsu, when released, binds one to a blood contract. All those contracted become part of a living weapon, imbued with a limited range of the kekkai-genkai's abilities._

Sakura uncapped a pen with her teeth, scribbling on a sheet of paper. If her chakra and blood were now symbiotic in a sense, it tracked that she would experience such an unexpected sensory load when healing. It could also explain why she had knocked Kakashi unconscious. Sakura's chakra, firing an uncontrolled burst driven only by her battle instinct, would have disrupted his heart and bloodstream, tanking his blood pressure until he lost consciousness. But that was only instinct – to what extent could she control that? Could it only be used in battle, or could she use this in her medical ninjutsu? She was unwilling to speak to Tsunade, but it might be unavoidable. She was going to need guidance to develop new medical techniques. At best, she could get away with some help from Shizune.

_Most, if not all, develop exponentially larger reserves of chakra in the time following the binding of the contract. Many become uncontrollably violent for a time, some develop physical transformations that reveal new abilities. A select few have shown the ability to perform a genjutsu that traps the victim, usually in a torturous cycle of extreme physical injury._

Sakura made a face. Uncontrollable anger and violence, that sounded about right. That much she could admit. But a physical deformity? Sakura peered at her limbs suspiciously, as if she was just daring them to turn green or sprout scales.

_To date, no one has developed the Blood Release ability that was central to the Ketsu kekkai-genkai. Ichiro does not speak of it. Only Saya, the puppeteer, has mentioned it, as she has been in the Blood the longest. I believe that Ichiro cannot use it himself, but that Chi could, or her child. No information as to what the jutsu consists of yet._

Sakura took note of the phrase "blood release", reminded of something she had read earlier. Pulling the stack she was reading into her lap, she began rifling through the scrolls around the table.

"Blood release…blood release…blood….here," she mumbled to herself, pulling out an older, more stiff sheet of paper. The date scrawled at the top showed that this was intelligence collected from before Sasuke infiltrated the Blood.

_The Ketsu Clan was destroyed during the Third Shinobi War. During the time of the Bloody Mist, Kiri was attempting to create jinchūriki by force, failing time and time again. Seeking to take the Ketsu kekkai-genkai for their own use and believing the Clan's bloodline strong enough to contain a tailed beast, they came to find a child at the Ketsu clan's island complex. Whatever they attempted, ended in disaster._

_Local rumor says that the attempt to seal the tailed beast went wrong, that the child they used went absolutely hysterical and destroyed everything and everyone on the island. The more reclusive islanders say that the child became a demon, eviscerating and evaporating every being in its sight, licking the blood off of the ground like a wild animal. Fewer islanders still hold the belief that some of the clan may have survived. There is talk of their clan reborn deep in the wild islands._

Evaporating. That seemed to strike a chord somewhere in the back of Sakura's brain. She made a few errant strokes on her paper, trying to string together the threads of thought running through her head.

If she could directly fluctuate the pressure of someone's blood, she could maybe, hypothetically, increase the blood pressure to such a point that arteries and veins could collapse, if not burst. Increase the pressure of all that liquid flooding the cavities of the body, as well as the pressure of other bodily fluids…theoretically, a body could be turned into a fine, gristly mist.

But the control required to do that, without just tearing the body into a pile of squelching, meaty chunks of viscera would be immense. Could that be the Blood Release that Sasuke had referenced in his reports, something a hyper-powered monster child could exhibit when it's kekkai-genkai kicked into high gear, far before they could begin to control it? The two scrolls in front of her were the only ones she had found so far with any passing reference to either the Blood Release or this Chi woman. She would need to find more about them if she wanted any hope of understanding what was happening.

With a few more strokes of the pen, Sakura tried to follow another path around the idea. Healing jutsu had taught her control over more than just blood flow. With enough time and focus, Sakura could influence the behavior of the very cells of someone's body, in order to knit back together shredded muscle and fractured bone. If she could focus the influence she seemed to have now, she wouldn't need to finely manipulate the blood pressure of her opponents. She could just rip apart something cell by cell if she wanted to. Evaporating it.

The thought chilled her, bringing her scrawling hand to a slow stop. Her already honed medical skills might have opened a pathway for her to understand her developing powers. But opening that pathway meant she understood just how dangerous her attack could be if she didn't get ahold of it, and quickly.

Invigorated, Sakura delved back into the piles of paper.

* * *

Hours later, Sakura was asleep, snoring away and almost certainly developing a crick in the neck. She was bent over the table, a pen lolling loosely in her hand. Kakashi leaned back in his chair, cracking his back and stretching his arms over his head. They had both spent hours taking notes and condensing as much of the information that they could, making a thick stack of highlights for Sakura to pour over in the library. She had refused to stop reading, even when her eyes had started drooping, too intent on studying as much as she could.

Kakashi rubbed his hand over his jaw, momentarily startled by the feeling of his own skin. He'd almost completely forgotten that he'd left his face uncovered. At first, his nerves had been on edge, hyperaware of every breeze that ghosted over the bridge of his nose. It had taken a dizzying amount of self-control to hold the flush from his cheeks every time Sakura glanced at him; he was so unused to anyone looking at his face that every glance she sent his way seemed like something he needed to defend himself from. But as the hours passed, he had relaxed, had become almost flattered by the shy, girlish looks the pinkette had shot his way as they worked. And the fact that he had felt the unexpected touch of her petal-soft lips against his cheek, a sensation he hadn't experienced in years, that didn't hurt either. But after so many hours, he had stopped noticing the tickle of the air conditioning over his chin, stopped shying behind sheaves of paper he held up unconsciously as Sakura spoke to him.

It was scary how comfortable he felt, just being near her. Just the smell of the airin her apartment felt like one of her kisses.

He smiled gently to no one but himself as he stood, some of his more worn-down joints popping as they took his weight. Kakashi picked Sakura up gently, carrying her to her room. She snuggled into his chest, seeking warmth in the emptiness of the apartment air. All the extra fabric of her borrowed shirt bundled around her adorably, melting Kakashi's steel heart in a way he wasn't ready to admit to himself.

What was he doing? This girl, this vision of cherry blossoms and strength, deserved better than a man like him, cursed as he was and weighed down with so much baggage. His entire life had been nightmare upon nightmare, flooded with death and darkness, and above all, emptiness. Everyone he had dared to love had died. What kind of curse was he inviting to her doorstep by growing these feelings for her? For maybe growing to lo-

No. He couldn't admit that to himself yet. The idea was too dangerous to solidify. All he could admit right now was that the woman in his arms was the best thing he had in his life, that she was what he held most dear. In his life, he had always thought of himself as defending the village, as he had no family to protect. It used to be the reputation of the village and the safety of its people that he pictured when he put his life on the line. Now, it was Sakura. There was nothing he would not do, no wall he would not tear down, no man he would not kill to protect the soul in those mesmerizing jade eyes.

Kakashi laid her in her bed, slipping beneath the blankets beside her. He grinned at the ceiling when she burrowed against his side, face hidden under the fabric of the duvet. His arm slipped around her side, bringing her closer to him.

Regardless of what he would or wouldn't admit to himself, these moments where she slept so soundly, curled against him in the soft quietness of a Konoha summer night, were enough to make him glad to be alive for the first time in many, many years.

* * *

The next morning, Sakura awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside the window. The sunlight filtering in through her eyelids slanted in at such an angle that Sakura could just tell that it was already past 8 am. She wrestled her eyes open groggily, knowing that at some point she needed to get up and make tea if she had any hopes of being productive. Her fingers itched to test some fledgling theories at the hospital. But her bed was just  _so_  warm, and the idea of having to get up seemed completely unreachable at the moment. Sakura squirmed a little under her blankets, stretching and popping her joints. A pair of arms she hadn't noticed before tightened around her middle, almost making her gasp. Sakura felt a warm breath of air gust over her ear, the gentle snore telling her he was still asleep.

It seemed as good a reason as any to stay in bed, and she squirmed herself deeper into the blankets, planning on falling back asleep. Instead, her backside brushed against the front of Kakashi's crotch, and Sakura was suddenly and unexpectedly aware of him being very, very naked. The muscles of her thighs twitched, warmth creeping through her body from the center of her hips. Hard, swollen muscle pressed into her hip, birthing a slew of naughty ideas in Sakura's head and making her blush. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing herself to have some of that new confidence right about now.

Under the blankets, Sakura rolled in place to face Kakashi. His eyebrow twitched faintly, breathing skipping a beat as her movement jostled him. She hitched her leg over his hip, aligning herself with the throbbing heat between them. Sakura brought up one hand to cradle his cheek, tracing her thumb back and forth across his bottom lip. His eyelids fluttered, but he didn't open them.

Sakura could smell the bullshit on him.

"Get up, old man," she said with a grin, pitching her weight over his hip to push him on his back, straddling him. His erection pressed against her, heat she could feel even through the lace of her underwear. She rolled her hips, confidence growing by the second. Want curled in the pit of her stomach, pushing her to act on her desire. She leaned over to latch her lips to his pale neck, a strained grunt rumbling from his chest as her teeth pressed into the fragile skin. "I know you're awake," she said, breathing hotly into the hollow of his throat.

"How could anyone sleep through such a – nnngh – lovely wakeup call," Kakashi groaned, spine arching as Sakura suckled at his skin. Her mouth moved lower and lower, and Kakashi had to grab her hips before he clawed at the blankets like a teenager. His hips pushed against hers, straining against her underwear.

"Since you're awake now…" she said, trailing off as she peeled the black fabric of her borrowed top slowly, tauntingly over her head.

"Might as well have a filling breakfast," he quipped, flipping her over onto her back. She giggled, head bouncing against the pillows as Kakashi lowered his head between her thighs, pulling her underwear down over her ankles.


	8. Medical Attention

The sun had crept higher in the sky by the time the two of them finally managed to get off of each other and dressed. Sakura pouted as he edged out of the window, mask pulled surely into place. Kakashi leaned back through the frame to hover his face near hers, pulling down the mask and whispering conspiratorially.

"I'll be seeing you."

"I'll be waiting with bated breath," she snarked, a sweet smile gracing her lips. If she was still knocked a little breathless every time she saw those warm eyes up close, the faint shadow across his nose from years of the sun only tanning half his face, she hid it well.

Kakashi kissed her then, too quickly for Sakura to react, before leaping and disappearing into the village skyline. She smiled after him, for once grateful for her tiny apartment that was so deep in the civilian district. Very few of the people around here would notice a shinobi sneaking across their rooftops, even in broad daylight.

Checking the clock next to her bed, Sakura tied up her hair in a tidy knot. 9:19. Just enough time to make it to the hospital if she hustled. Too hurried to bother with real breakfast or even the actual ground, Sakura scurried out the window behind Kakashi. She only barely remembered to slide it shut behind her as she hustled to the hospital building.

When Sakura skidded through the hospital doors with the ends of her medical coat flying, the clock's second hand was just seconds shy of 9:28. She let out a loud cry of victory, before remembering that she was, in fact, in a hospital and she should probably at least pretend she was an adult. She straightened her coat and neatened her hair, giving the receptionist a nod as she walked calmly to the elevators.

The grating metal doors opened, revealing none other than Shizune already inside, accompanied by the ever-present stack of paperwork.

"Ahem. Good morning, Shizune," Sakura said, shyly. She had no reason to believe Shizune had been lying to her, after all. Her anger at Tsunade could only spread so far.

"Oh, thank goodness, Sakura-chan! These are all for you," she said, dropping a thick pile of her files into Sakura's arms. "We need you to do some check-ups and physicals on those shinobi before it gets put off any longer."

"Oh, okay, thank you," Sakura said, flicking through the file on top – a genin recovering from a broken ankle. The two women stood in silence for a moment as each read through their papers.

"Sakura?"

"Yeah, Shizune?" she replied, lifting her head from the young girl's chart. A fractured talus and broken fibula, caused by a nasty fall during a mission. Ouch.

"Are you ever going to speak to Lady Tsunade, or do I need to wait out a war of the wills?"

Sakura sighed. "I need time, Shizune. My duty is to the Village, I am first and foremost a shinobi of the Leaf. I understand the need for secrecy, for our own safety. But…I'm hurt. I'm very hurt. And I can't make that just go away."

Shizune nodded, letting the elevator lapse back into silence. As the doors opened on another floor, Shizune stepped out and turned back to Sakura to say one last thing as the doors closed, smiling.

"She might be kind of a hag, but she does have a heart."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

"I swear to  _God_ , Shikamaru, if you try and light that up in here, and I'll make sure that breath is your last," Sakura growled, latex gloves snapping into place below her rolled up sleeves. "This is a hospital, you  _moron."_

The short blonde girl sitting on the edge of the exam table giggled, idly kicking her feet. One was in a regular shinobi sandal, the other in a thick black boot, encasing her foot securely in a single position. Shikamaru made a  _tch_ sound in his throat, slipping the glossy plastic of his cigarette pack back into his pocket.

"Sheesh, you don't have to be so loud about it."

Sakura shot him a sobering look, not amused. She kicked her foot, rolling herself towards the genin girl on the tiny stool. She again scanned through the girl's chart, before dropping the clipboard to hang haphazardly from the edge of the bed. She'd been in the boot for 3 weeks already, and Shikamaru had complained to Shizune that the girl wouldn't stop taking off her boot anyway; couldn't they just go ahead and fix it before she started giving him grey hairs?

"So, you must be Kanako, then?" Sakura asked, gently unstrapping the girl's walking boot and grasping her heel. She prodded experimentally at the joints, no longer swollen but still stiff. Kanako winced but gave Sakura a nod. "So how did this happen?" she asked, letting the girl hang her leg, scooting back towards the cabinets. The exam room adjacent to her office was small but suited Sakura's needs just fine. Small enough to be situated directly next to her office, but big enough that she was still  _floors_  above the reception area. Nobody rubbed her the wrong way like the hospital receptionists. She rifled through a drawer, pulling out her stethoscope and some other equipment and putting it all on a tray.

"I fell over a waterfall," she said, shrugging her shoulders. Sakura couldn't help but snort. It was just so very like a genin to hurt themselves doing something foolish and then put on a serious front of bravado about it.

"And then she didn't  _tell anyone about it_ until we were back in the village. I would have brought you straight here.  _Tch_. Women," Shikamaru interjected, with a sniff.

"We were busy, Shika-sensei," Kanako said defensively.

"God, don't call me that."

Sakura laughed, wrapping a cuff around Kanako's upper arm and taking her blood pressure. "You know, I have a friend a lot like you, Kanako. He doesn't like hospitals either."

"I didn't say I'm scared of hospitals."

"Neither did I," Sakura said, looking the girl meaningfully in the eyes. "But I don't think there's anybody better in this hospital at fixing broken ankles than I am, so between you and me, I think we have this more than settled. Right, Shikamaru?" she said, turning towards him for some moral support.

"What's that?"

"I swear to god, the boys in this town…Just say 'yes', Shikamaru," Sakura sighed, pulling Kanako's leg into her lap.

"Yes, Sakura," he drawled.

"Kanako, if this man has taught you even one single thing, I'll consider it an absolute miracle."

Kanako giggled again, as Sakura propped up her foot and firmly grasped the injured ankle with both hands. "Now, this might tickle a bit."

Sakura took a deep breath, preparing herself. She centered her focus, feeling the flow of her chakra run to her palms. The familiar soft glow grew and wrapped around her hands and Kanako's ankle. Just like before, Sakura was all at once bombarded with that acute awareness, like she could feel every notch and dimple of Kanako's bones, as if her fingertips were touching their very surface. Sakura's consciousness pulsed along the stiff and unused muscles, massaging them and loosening them as she worked over the fibula. Sakura prodded at the clots clinging to the shaft of the bone, ushering the cartilage beneath to harden into a solid callus. There was a loud crack as the bone realigned and hardened, and Kanako squeaked with surprise. Sakura had made sure to fine-tune the frequency of her chakra, numbing the sensation of Kanako's lower leg to nothing more than pins and needles. Sakura's chakra prodded along the fracture of her talus, making a few softer popping noises as the fracture readjusted.

Sakura retreated her chakra, gently letting Kanako drop her leg back down. She scooted her stool to the cabinets, pulling out a small pill packet and rolling herself back.

"Here, you're going to take these when you get home, for the pain. Your bones are going to be really sore for a few hours, so I want you to stay off of it for at least a day, got it?" Sakura said, not so much asking as threatening, as the loud snap of her plastic gloves coming off echoed in the exam room.

"Yes ma'am," the genin answered, appropriately scared.

"That's great!" she said, face falling into a familiar smile as soon as she knew the genin would follow instructions. Sakura strapped Kanako back into her boot, patting her toes affectionately. "You'll be good to go by tomorrow, I promise."

"Thank you, Haruno-sensei," Kanako replied, relief all over her face.

"You're welcome, sweetheart. Now, if that's cigarette smoke I'm smelling right now, Shikamaru, I will literally end your life."

"Has anyone ever told you how exhausting you- OW!"

* * *

Sakura sent Kanako and a slightly bruised Shikamaru on their way, signing off on a few things in the girl's chart and dropping it off at the nurse's station. She made her way back into her office, pulling the next few files from the stack on her desk. Reading the writing on the outside of the folders, she paused. Her adrenaline surged, blood rushing through her ears like crashing waves.

She'd been scheduled for physical exams for the rest of the day, Kanako had only been the first of several. The next on her list?

_Uchiha Sasuke._

Sakura glanced at the clock, seeing how much time she had. Fifteen minutes. She dropped into her desk chair heavily, a weight heavy in her chest.

It made sense that this would happen. Sasuke had been gone for at least 5 years. He needed a full physical and the village needed to know his condition. Especially if he were truly being sent out on a mission so soon, everyone needed to be ensured that he was in satisfactory physical condition. But her stomach turned, thinking of having to  _sit there,_  in the  _silence_ , as she checked his vitals and drew his blood. Sitting around him at all, it was a painful thought. It was only going to be like trying to talk to a corpse.

Sakura sighed, trying to calm herself down. She had meant what she had said to him, that first time she had seen him, after so many years of grieving. She would never cry for him again.

Sakura stood quickly, slamming her hands against the table. She needed to get it together. She was a medic, and Sasuke was a patient. Sakura could more than handle this without losing her grip.

That's what she told herself, anyway, as she passed through the sliding door that connected her office and exam room.

Sakura busied herself, tidying the counters and disinfecting the exam table. She laid out her stethoscope and blood pressure cuff on the tray, prepping for the exam. There was a soft knock on the hallway door as she arranged her tools, and a nurse peeked her head in. Her face was one of growing alarm.

Sakura could guess what she was here for.

"Send him in, please."

The nurse nodded, ducking back out and into the hallway. After half a beat, the door swung back open, Sasuke striding through.

He had changed out of the Blood uniform, into a more standard outfit of black pants and shirt, and a pale blue vest. His left sleeve was carefully pinned, the excess fabric that would have covered his missing arm kept out of the way. She had almost forgotten that Naruto now lived with a prosthetic arm, courtesy of some Hashirama cells and Tsunade herself. Sakura had noticed Sasuke's missing limb on the way back from Kiri, but it wasn't until now that she had spent any real time thinking about it. She couldn't help but suspect their mirror injuries were more than coincidence.

"Good morning, Uchiha-san," she said, her voice carrying a distinct chill.

"Morning," he replied, unphased.

"It's going to be a full physical today. You can get undressed, there's a gown on the table if you need. I'm going to ask you some questions, and you are  _not_ going to give me a hard time when you answer them, understand me?"

Sakura didn't deign to look at him as she spoke, continuing to fill in the gaping holes in his medical history and update his chart. He made a noise that sounded close enough to an agreement, and she continued.

"Do you suffer from any major chronic pains?"

"No."

"Do you have any major injuries?"

"No."

"Have you had any issues with your sight or use of the Sharingan?"

"Not really, not since the transplant."

"And when was that?"

"Just before the war."

Sakura fingers tightened, the plastic casing of the pen in her fingers cracking ever so slightly.

"Is the arm your only missing limb?"

"Yes."

"Does it give you any problems?"

"The phantom pains stopped long ago."

"That's good. How long ago did you lose it?"

"When were you told I was dead?"

Sakura started, spinning in her stool to glare at Sasuke. He was sitting on the exam table, wearing a pair of black boxers that made his pale skin seem ghostly. His amputated arm was scarred with angry red welts, the shredded flesh carefully packed back together and healed over. She kicked herself over beside him, dragging along her tray of implements. She did nothing to hide the anger that burned in her eyes, shooting daggers at him. He met her gaze levelly, unbothered.

She tied a strip of plastic around his arm, rolling her thumb across his veins to find the most suitable one. She found it immediately, the steady thrum of rushing blood like a beacon to her under the skin. Sakura used her other hand to position the needle against his skin.

"Breathe in."

He took a deep breath, and Sakura poked the thick steel bore into his elbow. She uncapped the plastic tubing, filling a few glass vials with his blood.

"That's a real dick way of saying 5 years ago."

"I haven't exactly kept a calendar on hand in recent years."

Sakura did recall that the intel he had sent along had gone increasingly undated as the years passed, like he had lost sense of how much time was truly passing as he lived underground with the Blood. The idea kind of creeped Sakura out, but she managed to shrug at least somewhat unaffectedly.

"Breathe out."

Sakura pinched the vein with her thumb and a tiny bullet of chakra, sealing the vein and skin as she pulled out the needle. Good as new.

Sakura took his blood pressure and heart rate, tested his reflexes with the small hammer. All in working order. There were a few major scars across his gut and abdomen that Sakura noted in his chart – at least one of them looked like it must have bordered on fatal. When she asked him how he'd gotten them, he only shrugged noncommittally. Her anger was getting harder and harder to keep in check. The affected coolness he had displayed when they were kids, at one point mesmerizing and devastatingly unattainable, only served to stoke her ire now. Did he have to be so distant at every second, acting like he was superior? He  _did_ remember that they were signed into the same blood contract, right? If he thought she was inferior, he was wrong. The idea made her blood boil, but she fought to keep her expression calm.

"God, Sasuke. I'm just trying to do my job, here. We need to know that you aren't going to  _die_ because you're missing a chunk of lung or something."

"Everything has healed back just fine, clearly," he said, waving his arm a little.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. "If that was  _sarcasm,_ Uchiha, I refuse to acknowledge it. Now, you're going to read that chart," she said, pointing to a chart of characters on her far wall, raising her other hand to Sasuke's face. His eyes squinted at her palm, beginning to shimmer with the palest aura of jade chakra, "while I test the flow of your chakra along your chakra network and ocular nerves. I need to make sure that there's no damage or evidence of decay."

Sasuke looked at the chart. His eyes unfocused, iris beginning to hazily spin. Sakura's fingertips brushed against his temple, and she was thrown headfirst along his chakra channels.

The amount of energy surging through his skull was tremendous as his tomoe spun into focus. Sakura's own eyes went blank and unfocused as her consciousness sank into Sasuke's chakra channels, almost breathless. She probed along the ocular nerves, looking for signs of strain. The sheer amount of force flowing along these channels had to be causing damage – she could feel the slightest twitch and ache in her own skull. She felt the irregularity where his transplanted eyes had been attached to his own nerves and made a face. It was as if she felt the awkwardly bunched tissue beneath her fingertips, gnarled and twisted. Her chakra fingered and fiddled with the cells. This had to be the issue, a blockage that needed huge amounts of concentration and chakra to move past.

Silence filled the room as Sakura slowly and painstakingly broke down the badly bundled cells, restructuring them until the attachment was clean, almost indiscernible. Sakura felt the pressure in Sasuke's skull recede, tomoe spinning even faster. It was like she was reading the chart across the room with her own eyes, as her consciousness flooded through Sasuke's irises and soothed the last strains of his sclera with a cool wash of chakra before retreating her touch and dropping her hand from his temple. His eyelids fluttered as she withdrew, adjusting to the change in chakra flow through his skull.

Sakura scooted away, pen already scribbling away in Sasuke's chart. The sound of the wheels scraping across the tile floor was the only noise in the still-heavy silence, as Sasuke blinked a few times in surprise. He had lived with tightness in his skull for almost 7 years, so long he had forgotten it was even there. Sakura had fixed it in 35 minutes.

"Thank you," he said, so sincerely it surprised them both.

"That should make a difference. That will be all," she said sharply, color rising in her cheeks. She felt suddenly upset, wrestling with her body to keep calm.

"Sakura-"

"I said that will be all," she snapped. With that, she stood, and quickly left the exam room and locked herself in her office.

Sakura collapsed into her desk chair, holding her breath. She waited until she heard Sasuke dress and leave the exam room to let it out, a long and ragged sigh. Her eyes burned, but thankfully the tears never came.

She didn't want to be nice to him. She didn't want to help him. She didn't want him to  _thank her._

She  _wanted_  to scream her head off at him. She  _wanted_  to punch him right in his expressionless face. She wanted to put him through a fraction of the pain he'd put her through.

But she just couldn't. She was incapable. As angry as she was, as she probably would always be, she was still just the girl that had once loved a boy. She couldn't hate him. And she couldn't help but ache over the happiness that had lifted in her chest when he had thanked her.

Sakura leaned back in her chair, dragging in a shaky breath. Why,  _why_ were her emotions always getting the best of her? Why couldn't she have been blessed with such a cold, hard exterior that could shield her from the pain of the world?

Well, that was unfair, Sakura thought, gazing at the decade-old team photo that perched on her desk. Sasuke's lot in life fell far short of a blessing. She sighed. Life was far too complicated for its own good, really.

Sakura rubbed her eyes, feeling the strain her emotions were putting on her productivity for the day. She had at least eight more patients to see. And the day had really started out so well…

* * *

Sakura leaned her head and shoulders back against the wall, tired. The thick stack of medical histories had thinned considerably, with only two or three left, but Sakura already felt exhausted. She didn't even lift her head to look as the nurse knocked again softly on the door, only lifting her hand to give a lazy wave of acknowledgment. Whoever her next patient was came in and sat on the table, the tell-tale noise of wrinkling paper sounding through the room.

"Good afternoon, Sakura-chan."

Sakura shoulders slumped with relief. She could do a lot worse at this point in her day than Hinata. When she opened her eyes, the long-haired woman sat on the end of the table, her ankles crossed, hands folded politely in her lap.

"Good afternoon, Hinata-chan. I can't even tell you how happy I am to see you," Sakura said, rolling herself over to Hinata and giving her a one-armed hug. "It's like they saddle me with nothing but beasts, I swear."

"Don't let Kiba hear you say that," Hinata giggled, hiding her smile behind her hand. Sakura grinned, letting go of Hinata's waist and scooting away from her.

"Why don't you go ahead and get undressed, and we can get started?"

A faint blush stained across Hinata's cheeks as she nodded, standing and untying her obi. Sakura turned around for a moment, scanning through Hinata's file. "So, this says you took yourself off of active duty last month. Do you have an old injury or something that you need to get checked out or-  _no way,_ " Sakura exclaimed, shell shocked as she turned back around to look at her patient, undressed to her lilac underwear.

Hinata's face was beet-red, fingers fiddling in the same way she had for so many years as a nervous child. "It looks very much like a 'yes way,' don't you think, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura jumped out of her seat, doing a little dance of joy. This was amazing, lovely, absolutely  _wonderful_ news and she would be damned if she didn't celebrate. "Go ahead and lay down, Hinata, I just need another minute," she said, refusing to stop dancing just yet. Hinata reclined on the table, her child-like laughter ringing through the room like transcendent bells.

Sakura finally dropped back onto her stool, the massive smile on her face making no signs of going anywhere soon. This was the absolute greatest thing to happen in this godforsaken country in at least a year.

"Ready, Mrs. Uzumaki?"

"Ready, Sakura-chan."

Sakura rubbed her hands together for just a moment, trying to bring some warmth to them as the jade chakra buzzed alight again in her palms. She laid them on Hinata's bare flesh, pouring her senses into Hinata's body.

There, inches beneath her flesh, safely encased under layers of tissue and organs, was a tiny, fluttering heartbeat.

"Hanabi has been monitoring me so far, but we decided it was time to come to the hospital and have you see, despite some of my family's wishes."

Tears welled in Sakura's eyes as she tenderly threaded her chakra through the amniotic sac. She counted ten fingers, ten toes, happiness and love building in her chest.

"I was thinking…would you be the godmother, Sakura-chan?"

Hinata sat up as Sakura withdrew her chakra, the two women's smiles shining like suns in the tiny room. Hinata herself began to cry as Sakura threw her arms around her, holding her close.

"You're going to have a beautiful little boy in the spring, Hinata."

* * *

Sakura walked Hinata to the front doors of the hospital, the two of them linked at the elbow and chatting animatedly. Sakura had already scheduled months of appointments and sent for a prescription of prenatal vitamins, and any other things the newest Uzumaki mother would possibly need, giddy with excitement. A tiny Naruto? The idea was so overwhelmingly adorable Sakura could burst. She was ready to be the best damn godmother this country had ever seen.

"Are you sure you can't come over for dinner tonight, Sakura-chan? Naruto will be so happy to find out, and he would love to celebrate with you. You're his family, after all," Hinata said, curling an arm around her slightly swollen stomach. The very picture of love and domestic bliss.

"As much as I would love to, I still have another appointment for today. And I think this is something you'll want to share, just between the two of you. I'll come by tomorrow, I promise," she replied, hugging Hinata tightly one last time.

"You mean it, Sakura?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Sakura waved goodbye as Hinata left, disappearing through the glass panes of the hospital doors. Her mood drastically better than it had been just hours ago, she twirled on her heel and headed back for her office.

When she stepped off the elevator and into the fluorescent hallway she worked in, she checked her watch. 4:37. Her next patient was probably already waiting for her, courtesy of the nursing staff. Sakura had staffed this floor herself and was endlessly thankful that she had chosen such good people. If everyone in this hospital acted like the receptionists, Sakura would have had to find somewhere new to work. Hell, she'd start her  _own_ hospital if that's what it took to avoid them.

Sakura opened the exam room door, letting out a rough sigh of relief at who she saw sitting there.

"If I had known you would be this excited to see me, I would have dressed up more."

Sakura couldn't help but blush as she approached the man on the table, his posture nonchalant but eyes as warm as honey.

"I've missed you too, Kakashi," she said, dropping a soft kiss on his fabric-covered cheek. "Are you here for a physical?" she asked, collecting his file and taking her seat.

"It's one of the reasons I'm here, yes. But you know it takes more than that to get me into this hellhole," Kakashi joked, gesturing to show he referred to the hospital at large.

"Hm, then who do I have to thank for this lovely visit?" she teased.

"Still me, actually," he said, rifling through his pockets. After a moment, he produced a small package, wrapped in grey tissue paper. Sakura set aside Kakashi's chart and took the bundle from his hands.

"What's this for?" she asked, tearing through the tissue.

"Well, I think I might have broken your holster the other night," he said, rubbing the back of his neck as Sakura peeled away the wrapping to reveal a sturdy leather shuriken holster. She ignored the heat in her cheeks as she remembered him ripping the old one off her leg, focusing on the gift in her hands. The strap was thick and well-sewn, the buckles made of a strong steel alloy that was cold to the touch. Clearly  _expensive._

"Oh, Kakashi, you  _didn't!"_ she gasped, leaping forward to throw her arms around him. Excited, she yanked down his mask to kiss him full on the lips. As painful as the middle of her day had been, the end of it was shaping up to be absolutely perfect, and her happiness made her giddy.

The jōnin blushed, looking pointedly at the ceiling as Sakura peppered his cheek with kisses. She finally pulled herself off of him and stood, putting her foot on the edge of the exam table to adjust the holster properly on her thigh. The stiff leather laid flat against her muscles, secure and ready for action. Sakura smiled with satisfaction, throwing her leg in a high kick to test that it wouldn't fly off. The holster didn't budge an inch as her kicks barraged the air. Perfect.

"I'm glad you like it."

"I love it," she said, dropping into her seat. "Now, time for your exam."

"How necessary is that, really?" he asked, trying to evade it entirely. Kakashi had secretly hoped that bringing the little gift would have distracted her enough to get him out of this. Just because Tsunade-sama told him to go to the hospital didn't mean he actually wanted to be there.

"Good lord, Kakashi. The genin in this village are less afraid of doctors than you are," she said. "There was a little girl right where you are just a few hours ago, she had a whole broken leg and she didn't flinch at all when I snapped it into place. Are you telling me the great Copy-Nin of Konoha isn't as brave as a twelve-year-old? Now strip."

"Oh Sakura, I'm flattered, but this is hardly the time or place."

"I- what?" she sputtered. "Shut up." Sakura threw her pen at him, the nib striking the center of his hitae-ate with a metallic clink and bouncing off harmlessly. He laughed, beginning to slip his vest off over his head.

"What is it going to cost me to get through this without the usual stalling? Do I need to bathe the ninken? Buy your dinner? You're my last appointment of the day, you know. We can go home after this." It wasn't until the words left her mouth that she realized with some alarm that she had just referred to her apartment as home- for  _both_ of them. Luckily, in his nervousness, Kakashi didn't seem to notice or care.

"Which means we  _could_  just slip out right now. I hear the sunset is beautiful when you watch from the top of the Third Hokage's head."

"I hear the sunset is beautiful when your physician doesn't put you into a coma before you can see it," Sakura said, shaking one glowing fist threateningly above her head.

"Okay, okay, fine," Kakashi said, finally relenting. He peeled off the rest of his clothing, slowly enough that Sakura was sure he was teasing her. Not that she minded, really. She could spend all day admiring the slopes and angles of his hardened, muscled body; a physique that could put anatomical models to shame-

"Ahem."

Sakura's cheeks reddened the slightest bit as she collected her thoughts again, looking at the half naked man on her table. She couldn't help but snicker at his boxers, printed with dozens of tiny kunai on a pastel blue background.

"Oh, see, you did dress up for me," she joked, tapping the cloth on his hip with the back of her pen. "You really know how to make a girl feel special."

"I do my very best."

Sakura rolled her eyes as she prepped her equipment to draw blood. Kakashi hissed slightly as Sakura swabbed an alcohol wipe over the crease of his elbow, taking none to kindly to the process. Sakura saw the way his eyes focused on the needle in her hand, stress evident in the arch of his brow.

"So," she started, lining the syringe up with the throbbing vein held in place with her thumb. "Did you know that Hinata's pregnant? I'm going to be a godmother."

" _Excuse me, Hinata is wha-_ shit!" Sakura poked the steel through his skin while he was distracted, using her savage grip to hold his arm steady when he jumped at the pain. Kakashi grimaced, staring pointedly at the ceiling. For a shinobi who had spent decades knee-deep in death and gore, he really was such a baby about these types of things. Sakura kept speaking, intent on keeping Kakashi's attention diverted from the vials of hot red liquid she portioned into vials at his elbow. She didn't want to deal with him whining about it, or even worse-  _fainting._ Sakura began tapping her toes rhythmically against the side of his ankle, using the slight annoyance to distract him from the sensation of his draining blood.

"She was in here just before you, actually. She's almost three and a half months along, give or take a week. Growing a tiny little Uzumaki in there."

"Wow. Naruto, a dad."

"I know."

"He's going to single-handedly throw an entire village parade."

"Maybe even two, just to really get the word out."

"Three, probably."

"Would anyone be surprised?" Sakura asked, pulling the needle out of his flesh.

"Not in the slightest," he forced out through gritted teeth. Rolling her eyes, Sakura lowered her head and planted a soft kiss on the reddened skin in the ditch of his elbow.

"Don't be a baby, Kakashi. Or I'll have to send you to Naruto's so he can get some parenting practice."

"Oh, how you wound me."

"Nothing I'm not capable of healing, I'm sure," she joked, poking him in the ribs. She moved quickly through most of the remaining tests, cataloging his vitals and testing his reflexes.

"Almost done…just have to check your Sharingan."

"Or we could go for ramen."

"Or we could check your eye."

"Or we could go for a walk along the river."

"Too bad it's probably still destroyed. So we'll just have to check your eye."

"Or we could go back to your place, I really could  _eat-"_

"Hatake," Sakura huffed, getting impatient. She propped her fists on either hip, glaring at him. "What are you trying to avoid?"

The man made a face, mouth twisting in frustration.

"Nothing."

"Wow, you sure do have me convinced. I totally and completely believe you."

"Sakura, really-"

"Is that a new cologne you're wearing? Smells strongly of…" Sakura paused, wafting air towards her nose with a dramatic flap of her arms and taking a deep breath, eyes shut for dramatic effect. "Bullshit."

"Good one."

"Thanks. Now are you going to let me check your eye, or am I going to have to make you?"

"Ugh,  _alright._ "

Kakashi shut his right eye, the Sharingan beginning to spin lazily as he ran chakra through his ocular nerves. Sakura raised her glowing palms to his temples, eyes shut, letting her own energy seep through the bony skull and into Kakashi's pathways.

Her sense passed through the nerves and tissues, searching for anything out of place. High-frequency chakra traveled down the optic nerve, from the center of his brain and toward his eyes. As Sakura's sense moved across the nerve, she began to feel something...wrong.

The nerve felt raw, exposed. Her brow creased as she immersed herself in the sensations she felt, doing her best to make sense of the influx of information. She could feel the electrical impulses from Kakashi's brain zinging back and forth, but they were sluggish and erratic. Moving further towards the retina, Sakura ran her chakra along the tensed and swollen muscles around the Sharingan eyeball, cataloging the damage. Years of use must have gotten it to this point; years of attempting to operate a foreign kekkai-genkai that preyed on his body like a parasite, draining his chakra and now, threatening his eyesight. The eye itself was sore, the pressure of the vitreous humor far too high. Sakura did her best, lowering it by a fair amount, but she could tell it only did so much. There was too much underlying damage. The pressure inside of his eyeball would only elevate again, she was sure of it. She was going to have to start doing this regularly, no doubt an idea Kakashi was certain to take issue with, but it was unavoidable.

Sakura sighed, dropping her hands from Kakashi's temples. He looked at her blankly, as if she  _wasn't_ going to make him talk about it.

"I know you hate talking about this-"

"Then let's not talk about it."

"I think the possibility of losing your eye is worth discussion, Hatake."

"It must be bad if you're dropping family names like that."

"It  _is_  bad, Kakashi. Your nerves are demyelinating, they're literally breaking down. The muscles are overworked. The constant chakra burn for what, 25 years? It's scorched everything. The damage causes excess pressure in the fluid of your eye, the pressure progresses the damage. Your eye is halfway dead, Kakashi-sensei," she said, her voice strained. As she ran through the short version of her diagnosis, her voice rose higher in pitch. She slipped into the old title as stress pricked at her every nerve, desperate to make him take this seriously. "When was the last time you used it?"

Kakashi slumped against the table, laying on his back with dejection. Sakura could tell that this wasn't a revelation for him. He had been expecting this. After all, Uchihas that were  _meant_ to have the Sharingan eventually burnt them out. The entire clan had been a tribe of organ-stealing maniacs, shoving other people's eyeballs into their own heads in pursuit of power. In all likelihood, the transplanted eye in Kakashi's skull had just lasted as long as it possibly could, and this was the inevitable conclusion. And if Sakura knew this, Kakashi certainly did.

"Maybe a month ago."

"Good. Keep it to a minimum," she said with a sigh. She rested her head on Kakashi's chest, looking at his chin as he stared at the ceiling with his good eye. "I can monitor it and keep it from degrading too fast, but there's nothing I can do if you push it too hard."

"Hm."

The two sat there in silence for what felt like hours, both only finding comfort in the touch of Sakura's cheek against Kakashi's chest.


	9. The End of an Era

Sakura sat on her threadbare couch, rolling an apple around in her hands.

She and Kakashi had left the hospital a couple of hours earlier, both in notably somber moods. Sakura's shoulders were weighted with worry, Kakashi's with resignation. Neither of them had questioned it as they travelled back to Sakura's apartment together in relative silence, both crawling in through the window and dropping onto the sofa. After her examination and seriously dour diagnosis of Kakashi's Sharingan eye, neither of them felt exactly chipper.

Kakashi had stretched out over the length of the couch, kicking his legs over Sakura's lap to balance his ankles on the arm of the sofa. He pulled down his mask, blew Sakura a half-hearted kiss, and promptly fell asleep.

Picking mindlessly at the sticker on the side of the apple, Sakura considered things.

It did seem as though the development in her abilities could be useful. All the work she had done today had been exceptional, not that that was unexpected. She held herself to very high standards, after all. But it had gone quickly, smoothly, in ways that it never had before.

Restructuring the nerves in Sasuke's eyes should have taken hours upon hours, should have required her to have assistance and take breaks. And even then, it wasn't likely to have been as effective, interrupted by a medic's physical exhaustion and the limits of the body's ability to regenerate damaged nerve tissue. Yet, Sakura had closed her eyes and played with his nerves like a puzzle, the tactile edges of her chakra stream catching at the wall of each cell and gently twisting it into its proper place. She had felt the pressure in his skull snap like a rubber band when the blockage was fully broken down, a release of built up tension that had relaxed Sasuke's muscles down to his toes.

Sakura's eyes began to burn, a telltale sign. There was nothing she could do to fix the nerves in Kakashi's left eye. She might have been able to restructure and arrange the cells in Sasuke's nerves, but that was only because they were badly healed, not barreling towards destruction. Rearranging cells so they could channel chakra and the electrical impulses of the nervous system was one thing. To try and regrow them was something else entirely. The body just  _didn't_  naturally do it. Medical ninjutsu depended entirely on the application of the natural- using one's organic energy to influence the body and energy of another. No medical ninjutsu in the world could completely regenerate the destroyed myelin sheaths of Kakashi's optic nerves, not when the body simply couldn't do it. Sakura's only ability was to stop the progression of the damage, or at the very least slow it down. She couldn't help but feel guilty, even if she objectively knew that there was nothing she could do and no one she could blame but the Uchiha's own shitty genetics. If Kakashi lost his eye, she would feel like it was her fault for not being able to save it.

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold back any tears. She held her breath, clenching the apple in her grip, willing herself to calm down. She sighed. After a moment or so, the apple resumed its dance between her palms as she continued thinking.

So, her newfound ability not only increased her chakra reserves, it seemed to affect how her chakra itself interacted with whatever it touched. Her sense of Kanako's bones, of Kakashi and Sasuke's eyes, it bordered on overwhelming. Even checking the vitals of the fetus in Hinata's womb had absolutely thrown her for a loop. Her chakra had cradled the baby, gently, so as not to disturb any of the delicate structures. She had felt its heartbeat, felt its cells duplicating and bundling away, DNA creating tiny limbs and organs. Sakura could even feel the tiny, thrumming streams of chakra in its developing pathways; Hinata's son would have a lightning affinity just like his mother.

Was the power of the Ketsu clan centralized on the physical body, or was that just the way it had developed in Sakura, naturally evolving to emphasize the skills she could already use? Was there more she was capable of now, more than just being a medic?

A flame licked at the edges of her chest, a fire she had almost forgotten rousing inside of her.

Being a medic came naturally, the instinct to protect and care instilled deep within her. But that was not her only desire in life, even if she had not admitted so, not to anyone. Sakura had always been taunted by the power Naruto and Sasuke had. She had always been sidelined, forgotten, underestimated. Relegated to being the damsel in distress, time and time again. Almost everything she did paled in comparison to the two of them, as she became a supporting character in the story of their lives. For so long, she hadn't been a teammate worth having, only a simple tool in the arsenal the two of them wielded.  _They_ had been the only true members of their team.

Was this finally the time for  _her_ to become what they were?

Sakura's gaze zeroed in on the marbled red and yellow skin of the apple. A glassy sheen of jade chakra flowed around the fruit, streaming from her fingertips. It was a shaky connection – an apple, organic as it may be, is not a living body. There was no blood flow, no current of electrical impulse for Sakura to hijack. Nevertheless, Sakura's brain shuffled through every rigid cell of the apple's flesh, like she was pinching them between her fingers.

Sakura breathed in.

Sakura breathed out.

The apple disintegrated.

"AAIIIEEE!"

Sakura screamed with surprise as the apple's rent flesh exploded in her palm, tiny bits of apple and seed showering the walls and her face. Kakashi jumped to attention, body jerking with the shock of the noise. He landed on his feet, a kunai already in his hand.

When he saw Sakura was perfectly safe, with what looked like bits of applesauce dripping all over her face and the front of her chest, his face was so confused that Sakura burst into giggles.

"…What are you doing?"

"I, I was, ahahaha, I was trying something with the apple and-" she struggled to say, clutching at her sides.

"What? Why are you laughing?"

"There's something on your face!"

Kakashi had again forgotten that he'd removed his mask, so used to it always being in place. He was still unaccustomed to how often he revealed his face when it was only the two of them, how comfortable he was even with his face in full view. He swiped his hand across his cheek, the splat of disintegrated apple flesh smearing over his nose.

"And here I thought only Naruto still played with his food."

Getting up, Sakura wiped at the tears spilling from the corners of her eyes. "Please come wash your face, I can't take you seriously when you're covered in apple bits."

"Can't take  _me_ seriously? You look like you showered in apple juice," he said back, following her into her bedroom. Sakura pulled her top off over her head, letting it fall to the ground. She made her way to the bathroom, bending over the sink to wash her hair.

"Maybe, but you're the one with  _authority_. It's funnier when you look stupid."

"You're washing your hair in the sink and  _I_ look stupid?"

"Yes, that's correct. Washing your hair in the sink saves time  _and_ water. Very eco-friendly," she said, rinsing the sticky sweet juice from her hair and face.

"Or just lazy."

"Says the man who has only been on time to something exactly three times in his life."

"Twice, actually."

"See, my point exactly. And at least  _I'm_ cleaning myself," she said, straightening and wrapping a towel around her shoulders. "You, apparently, need help." Sakura approached him, using the damp end of the towel to wipe gently at his face. Her fingers trailed lightly over the scar on his cheek, his eyes closing with pleasure at the feeling.

"You're really beautiful, you know."

Kakashi's heart skipped a beat, eyes snapping open. Sakura was still gently wiping away any traces of sticky apple from his cheek, her gaze soft and sweet as she cleaned his face. The slightest of smiles graced her pink lips. The tenderness of the moment did not escape him, a weird fuzzy feeling blanketing his chest in a way he couldn't – wouldn't – quite explain to himself.

"Thanks, I think."

"Why  _do_ you cover your face?" she asked, eyes finall _y_ rising to capture his. He choked.

"I-"

_BANG_

" _SA-KU-RAAAAAAA!"_

The two shinobi in Sakura's bathroom started, alerted by the noise.

"I think somebody found out he's going to be a daddy," Kakashi quipped, grateful for the interruption.

"Oh lord," she said, jerking open the bathroom door and stumbling through her bedroom, looking for a shirt. The sound of Naruto's sandals slamming on the stairs of Sakura's building were thunderous as he got closer to the third floor. She couldn't help but cringe, thinking of her neighbors. Maybe it was time to move to a more ninja-friendly building.

"Is this my cue to leave?"

Sakura picked up the first thing she found on the ground, struggling into the black fabric as she walked into the main room of her apartment.

"You will  _not_ leave me alone to deal with him, you just know he's going to ask us to go celebrate. He's only going to come and find you if he doesn't find you here."

"But those blissful moments of peace are what really make life worth living."

"You are so full of shit, sensei," Sakura said, laughing.

_BANG BANG BANG_

"SAKURA!"

"I'M COMING, IDIOT!" she yelled. Sakura rolled onto her tiptoes, hands clutching at Kakashi's shoulders as she stretched to give him a kiss. She pulled his mask back over his chin, brushing her lips over the tip of his nose as it snapped into place. He was glad for it too, as a blush singed in his cheeks. He fiddled with the edges of the mask, still a little flustered every time she did something so  _sweet_. Kakashi slid into one of her kitchen chairs, pretending to be immersed in the piles of paper that still towered on the table.

Sakura pulled her hair out of the neck of the sweater, throwing it over her shoulders, and opened her front door.

"HARUNO! HAVE YOU HEARD?"

Naruto rushed through the doorway at a million miles an hour, his entire body buzzing with excitement. He didn't even wait for her to speak, just wrapping his arms around her middle and lifting her into the air. He spun in circles around the apartment, still yelling his head off.

"I'm going to have a kid! A kid, Sakura! I'm going to introduce a whole new generation to Ichiraku Ramen! I'm going to play catch with my kid and take 'em to the Fire Park Zoo!"

Sakura laughed, Naruto's joy utterly infectious.

"He's going to be the luckiest little boy in the Village."

Naruto stopped, setting Sakura down and staring at her with wide eyes.

"I'M GOING TO HAVE A SON?!"

* * *

Hours later, Sakura and Kakashi were in Naruto and Hinata's home. The two of them lived in one of the many large residences on the Hyuuga estate, and tonight the house was crawling with people. True to form, Naruto had told everyone he could the news. When the man was excited, he didn't even try to rein it in. It seemed like half the Village was roaming through the house tonight.

Sakura sat next to Sai on one of the couches, sipping lazily at an icy glass of shochu. She had gotten into the spirit of celebration, and the alcohol made her thoughts fuzzy and loose. She laughed easily at whatever nonsense Kiba was spewing, something about campaigning for a national dog holiday once Naruto became Hokage.

Sai shifted in his seat, a lump of charcoal and sketchbook lying in his lap. Sakura peered over his shoulder, watching as he ran swift lines across the paper, lines that made no sense to her but clearly meant something to Sai's process.

"It's a party, Sai. Why are you drawing?"

"Everybody is so happy tonight. It would be a waste to not have something to remember it by."

As Sakura watched his hand fly around the paper, the vague details came more into focus. She could recognize the slope of Naruto's jaw, the curve of his blinding smile in the rough black lines.

"He looks so happy, doesn't he?"

"He truly does. It is quite the miracle, him becoming a father."

"Why's that?" Sakura asked, genuinely concerned with the grave tone of Sai's voice.

"I never expected his balls to actually work."

Sakura spit her drink all over the carpet, starting to choke. She collapsed into a fit of laughter, face going bright red and streaking with tears. Shochu and water sloshed over the edge of her glass and onto her sleeve while she sank into the cushions, absolutely hysterical.

"Oh no, I got my shirt all wet!"

"That is not your shirt," Sai said matter of factly, still calmly sketching away.

"What's that?" she said, straightening up. Her heart sped up, as she looked down to see what exactly it was she had put on in her bedroom.

"That is Kakashi-taichou's shirt, is it not?"

"Um, no?" The denial felt lame even as it left Sakura's mouth.

"So it definitely is, then."

"Since when did you get so nosy?"

"It is not nosy to be aware that you are wearing clothing you usually do not, I believe."

Sakura glared at him. Wearing Kakashi's shirt didn't  _technically_ mean anything. After all, Sakura had ended up with pieces of most of their old clothes over time. Even she could admit that Sai's little crop top number was pretty cool, and she had found an occasion to wear it herself on a mission. She had looked pretty cute too.

"What is nosy would be asking why you arrived with wet hair  _and_  wearing Kakashi's shirt."

"Oh my  _god,_ Sai!" she whisper-yelled, shoving him in the arm. He winced slightly, and Sakura knew she had left a bruise. Good.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?"

"I hate you," was all she could think to say, still struck dumb by Sai's comments. At least her hair had dried by now, for god's sake. Even if she had shown up that way for completely innocent reasons, he was angling dangerously close to the truth. The bastard was so clueless sometimes, she forgot that he was beyond competent at noticing the details.

"You say that, and yet you still seem to enjoy sharing my company. I must assume it is because I am so unbelievably good looking."

"You're the worst," she said, snorting. At least he knew when to change the subject, if only for his own safety.

"I am only honest," he replied, smiling sweetly. Apparently done with his sketch of Naruto, he flipped the page and began another. This time the lines were softer, finer, tracing into shape the more delicate and somber features of a certain Uchiha.

Sakura's head snapped up, searching for Sasuke. She caught him out of the corner of her eye, slipping through the dark shadows around the side of the house. Through the glass windows, she saw the quickest flash of orange, and she jumped up to follow. Sai remained in his seat, calmly continuing his drawing. He had started it so Sakura would realize her presence was desired, and that was all his task would be. He knew this moment, although for his team, was not for him.

* * *

Kakashi sat next to Kurenai on a couch in another room, the two of them watching as Mirai rolled around on the floor with Akamaru. Shikamaru was crouched nearby, worried as ever that she might get hurt. He needn't have worried though, as the seven-year-old girl rolled the huge beast over to his back in triumph.

Kurenai smiled lovingly, watching her daughter cheer with victory.

"She's a strong little girl, that one."

"I know," she said. "She's got the Yūhi affinity for genjutsu and the will of a Sarutobi. I have my hands full with her."

"It's a good thing she has Shikamaru around," Kakashi said, as the man in question wrestled Mirai off of Akamaru's back before she tried riding him through the house. Kakashi kind of wished he wouldn't, it would be  _really_ funny to watch them tear through this house like hellfire.

"All he does is complain, but he loves her like his own. I couldn't have asked for a better godfather."

Mirai had now latched onto Shikamaru's back, pulling at his ponytail and demanding he carry her through the house. Ino appeared behind them, laughing brightly. She pushed an errant curl of Mirai's hair back behind her ear, saying something that made the little girl squeal with laughter. Ino tweaked her nose, then leaned to give Shikamaru a quick peck on the cheek. He rolled his eyes, but the blush gave him away.

Mirai yanked on his ponytail again, one arm pointed forward, yelling for him to charge. The three of them walked away towards the kitchen, leaving Akamaru to stretch out over the carpet.

"I wonder if the two of them will be having any little Yamanaka-Naras running around soon," Kurenai commented, watching them leave. "For someone who finds women so bothersome, he certainly does seem to end up surrounded by very intense women."

"There's something to be said about intense women," Kakashi commented, leaning over to scratch Akamaru's belly. He really did love dogs.

"And just who are  _you_ talking about, Hatake?" Kurenai asked.

"Nobody," he lied. A mental image of Sakura, her hair tied back and chakra flaring in her eyes, rose in his mind.

"Are you going to settle down and give us a litter of Hatake kids soon, just running wild with your ninken?" she teased.

For a brief second, a scene rose in his mind's eye.

_He was leaning against a tree in a field, the grass warm with the heat of the shining midday sun. Sakura laid on the ground, her head cradled in his lap, twirling a fluffy dandelion between her fingers. Birds chirped and sang in the thick trees of the forest, occasionally swooping across the meadow._

" _Make a wish, Kashi-kun," she murmured softly, lifting the white flower to his bare face. She held her hand there, fingertip balanced affectionately on Kakashi's freckle._

_His gaze roamed over the field. There, in the distance, two young children with silvery-pink hair wrestled with Pakkun and Bull. Even from this distance, he could hear them laughing, happy and safe in the summer sunshine._

" _I wish we could stay here forever," he whispered back, blowing the soft white seeds into the balmy air._

"I think motherhood is giving you weird ideas, Kurenai."

The woman threw her head back and laughed.

* * *

Sakura found her boys in a dark stone garden some distance from the house. The warm glow of light and conversation was a beacon in the distance, casting a dim and shadowy light over the sandy lot.

The three of them all met on the largest boulder. Naruto plopped down first, laying on his back and staring into the starry sky. Sakura followed suit, and Sasuke finally did too, albeit awkwardly. Sadness tugged at Sakura's heart. The nostalgia of the moment picked her raw.

"So, you're leaving, aren't you?" she asked, speaking towards the sky.

"Yes. It's going to look suspicious if I take too long to find the remaining Blood shinobi."

"Tonight?"

"Yes."

"But…it's only been three days…"

"I know."

Sakura sighed heavily. As much as part of her wanted to hate Sasuke, she couldn't. She may not be in love with him anymore, that was for certain, but she could feel that she did still love him. He had been her teammate, her brother in arms. They had trained together, suffered together, killed together; that meant something. Bonds forged in the heat of battle were strong.

She could admit to herself that she missed him. She wanted to pester him to hear about what he had done in the past five years. How had he gotten that burn scar across his stomach? How many jutsu had he learned with his Sharingan? Who was he now? Who would he be the next time she finally saw him again?

"You'll be comin' back though, right?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence. His voice was rough. Sakura could well enough assume that his thoughts had followed a similar path as hers.

"When the mission is complete, it would make sense to return to the Village."

"But will you  _come back_?" Naruto repeated, emphasis on the last words. They all knew what he meant. The Uchiha complex had sat dark and cold for so long. Sakura and Naruto both silently longed for a day where they would again see the quiet signs of life from within.

"I don't know."

"How can you not know?!" Naruto growled, irritated. His hand scrubbed through his short hair, trying to scratch at long locks that were no longer there.

"There is more in this world than this Village knows. I might not ever be accepted here, not after the war…my best offering now may be to support this village from as far a distance as I can."

Naruto huffed, but didn't argue. They all fell back into that lingering, heavy silence, staring at the stars. Ages seemed to pass as they stared into the sky.

Quietly, Sakura began to sing.

"The Will of Fire, it burns in all of us."

Sakura knew they both recognized it, there was no way they wouldn't. Every Villager did, they learned it until it echoed in their skulls and carved its way into their ribs.

"We are one, our hearts burning together…"

Naruto joined her, his voice uncharacteristically soft in the summer night breeze.

"Who have we to fear,

Who can challenge our strength?"

Now, Even Sasuke joined in. Sakura's eyes spilled over her cheeks, tears leaving hot trails down her temple and into her hairline.

"We all shall endure,

With the Will of Fire."

The three of them laid there together for a few more minutes, taking in what precious little time they could together. Everything in their lives was changing so fast, even for shinobi. Naruto married and a father. Sasuke, pardoned international criminal that still ran from home. Sakura saddled with a blood curse and sleeping with her old teacher. These were the very last moments of their childhood that they would ever experience, and all of them felt it. When the sun rose on Konohagakure in the morning, the book would be closed forever on Team 7.

"I hear Hinata calling me, guys."

Sakura could hear it too, accompanied by the yells and catcalls of most everyone they knew. Someone was probably trying to get him to make a speech.

"Goodbye, Naruto."

"See you tomorrow, Naruto."

He sat up and crouched, adjusting his bright orange sweatshirt that practically glowed in the moonlight. Sticking his arm out, he wiggled it in Sasuke's face until he relented and bumped his fist against Naruto's.

"Bye, guys. I'll see ya later. Even you, Sasuke. Believe it."

With that, he ran off towards the house. In their silence, Sasuke and Sakura heard the cheers when Naruto got back to the house. Even though tears still ran slowly down her face, she smiled. He had always been alone, for his entire childhood. Shunned within an inch of his life, living alone at 4 years old…Sakura wasn't sure she would have survived it. Yet now, there wasn't a person alive in this village that didn't love him, that didn't owe him their life, that didn't recognize him for the warm soul that he truly was. And now he had his own family, a real one, that he could shower with all of the love and affection he had never gotten in his own life.

There was no one that deserved it more than him.

"You should leave soon," Sakura finally said, resigned.

"I know."

"How long do you think you'll be gone this time?"

"I don't know. Until we know the Blood's next move, at the least."

Sakura pushed herself to her feet, trying to rub the tears from her face. It was hard to be angry at someone you  _missed_  so much.

"I thought you said you'd never cry over me again," he commented, rising to his feet. Sakura realized now that he was in a traveling cloak and already laden with supplies. He was leaving  _now_.

"I've been drinking, it doesn't count," she said lamely, as the tears began anew.

Sasuke looked at her, something more than the usual blankness in his eyes. Sakura would almost call it sadness. She stilled as he poked the fingers of his remaining hand against her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Sakura. For everything." Sasuke leaned in, and Sakura's breath caught in her throat.

_No, not now, that's not what I want-_

Sasuke's lips brushed lightly over the lilac seal, silence clouding the air around them. The slightest expression of affection, of sorrow. Of apology.

And then he was gone.

Sakura slid off the large stone they had all stood on and wrapped her arms around herself. The glow of the house in the distance beckoned, but Sakura turned away. All she wanted was to go to bed.

Her feet crunched through the dry sand as she walked off of the Hyuuga estate. As she crossed under the black lacquered torii that gated the property, there was a whistle of wind that screamed past her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I left the party early."

"I was ready to leave as soon as Lee and Gai started drinking. He made me do pushups," Kakashi said, appearing at her shoulder. They walked in lockstep, heading for the main part of the village.

"That is such a bad idea, Lee's going to knock down their house."

"Almost definitely."

"The Hyuugas are going to kick them off the property."

"For certain."

They continued walking along in silence. Sakura's steps were sluggish and tired. She leaned against Kakashi, wrapping her arm around his elbow as they walked along. Her head rested against his shoulder, a sigh escaping her lips.

"Long day?"

"Yeah, you could say so."

Sakura didn't notice as Kakashi gently shifted the direction they were walking. Her eyes were closed, weighed down with her thoughts.

She needed to see Tsunade, needed to discuss what she learned from Sasuke's intel and what she had done with the apple; nobody was going to have the right knowledge to help Sakura understand this but her. Beyond that, she was still reeling from what Sasuke had said.

 _Sorry, for everything_.

It had been easier to be angry when she still told herself he was a cold bastard who didn't care about her either way. Now, that anger peeled away, leaving behind regret and pain. Was it worse for him to not care and never come home…or for him to care and still spend his life running away from the people who would always be his family?

The back of Sakura's eyes started to burn, and she rubbed one of her hands across her face. She didn't want to cry anymore tonight. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she finally opened her eyes.

"Wait, where are we?"

"I do, in fact, have a home of my own."

"Oh, I can go home if-"

"Your house is far away and you're tired. Are you going to argue or are you coming?"

"I just…I've never seen your house before," she said, letting him lead her up a flight of stairs. The apartment complex was concrete and nondescript. Fitting.

"Your place is much nicer."

Kakashi unlocked a door in a hallway, just as plain and nondescript as the outside of the building. It was a single room, only dimly lit by the light coming in from the window. Sakura could just barely make out a bed and a desk in the shadows, and the slight glare of moonlight off of a short line of picture frames.

"…Where do you find this stuff?" she asked incredulously, poking at the shuriken printed bedspread.

"Careful and thorough observation."

"I think I need one."

"Consider it done," he said, shuffling through some drawers. Sakura sat on the bed, wrestling off her shorts and wriggling under the covers. The bed was surprisingly soft, for what Sakura had expected of a man like Kakashi. She bundled the covers around her nose, absolutely drowning in the scent of ginger that hung in the air.

Kakashi turned, about to say something, but was cut short. His hands clutched a little tighter at the fabric in his hands. He was struck by the sight of Sakura in his bed, already half-asleep and bundled in blankets. Something in his chest cracked, his heart suddenly on a tear-away pace out of his ribs. He was glad for his mask and the shadows when his face began to burn almost painfully.

Sakura curled in his bed without even a semblance of discomfort was jarring. There hadn't been a woman in his bed in years, hadn't been a woman he truly  _cared_ about in his bed…maybe ever. The mop of pink fanning over the sheets was so strikingly perfect he almost didn't know what to do. Kurenai's words from earlier snuck into his brain, whispering accusingly while he watched the woman who looked so perfectly at home in his bed. Like she belonged there.

_Are you going to settle down and give us a litter of Hatake kids soon?_

"Kashi…come here. I'm cold," she muttered, rolling over to gather more of the blankets around herself. He didn't need to be told twice.

Kakashi quickly changed out of his daily jōnin uniform, into the old and worn uniform pieces that he used as pajamas. Truly a man of few luxuries. He slid in beside Sakura, tensing just slightly as she immediately latched onto his side.

"Good lord, Sakura," he seethed through clenched teeth when her icy feet pressed against his bare ankles.

"Hmm…warm." Sakura had fallen fully asleep now, only muttering the barest of replies to Kakashi's words.

He had to roll his eyes, but the side of his mouth curled up in a smile anyway.


	10. Worry

Sakura's eyes opened drowsily to the barest rays of sunlight pouring through the window behind her head. Dust motes danced in the air of an unfamiliar room, but the recognizable warmth that surrounded her kept her from worrying.

Sakura let her eyes roam over the sparsely furnished room. It was pretty standard for any busy shinobi, just the necessary basics of some drawers, a desk, and a bed. Kakashi's uniform laid in a messy heap next to the dresser, one of the few details that betrayed the empty, bare sense of the room. Sakura fingered delicately at an errant thread in the shuriken-patterned duvet, the corner of her mouth twitching in amusement. For all of his seriousness and gravitas, Kakashi Hatake was a complete fool at heart. The tiny, childish details that betrayed the fact that he lived there, they made her smile.

Sakura shifted in Kakashi's arms as she felt him begin to rouse from sleep. The edge of his mask was stuck over his ear and chin, dragging halfway across his mouth and irritating him until his eyes opened blearily.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

"Mmmph." His eyes blinked, out of tandem, as he tried to focus with his right eye. Sakura had to giggle.

"Stop making faces," she said with a laugh, covering his face with her hand as she finally sat up.

"'m not doing anything."

"Yeah, sure you aren't," she said, rolling out of bed. Her feet hit cold wood floor, joints cracking like fireworks. She ignored Kakashi's snort at the noise of her crackling bones, because she was  _dignified_ , thank you very much.

Sakura leaned over the windowsill, tracing her fingertips over the velvety leaves of a potted plant. She found it quite cute that there were so many in the room, at least 6 of them. One even still the shiny wrapping paper around the pot, the sparkly to and from sticker labeling it as a gift from everyone's favorite knucklehead ninja. Every day she learned something new about this silver-haired shinobi, something that warmed her heart; today it was that he had a green thumb and a thing for ferns.

Sakura heard the rustle of sheets as Kakashi rose from the bed, but she didn't turn to look. Instead, she gently tipped back one of the picture frames, looking down at the photo behind the glass. She smiled, somewhat ruefully, at the old picture of her team, Kakashi's hands buried in the boys' hair. It could be played off as affection, but they all knew better; Kakashi had had to hold them still with their faces to the camera, as close as they were to a fight. Sakura could only remember her burning excitement that day, so eager to be near Sasuke, even as the rest of them bickered and argued.

Well. Things had taken quite the turn since then, hadn't they? She let the frame fall gently back into place, positioned just so. She  _wasn't_  going to ruin a perfectly nice morning by being bitter.

Sakura turned around to face Kakashi know, watching as he changed into a clean uniform. She rubbed the sole of her foot against her leg, thinking, as he pulled his clothes into place.

"I should probably see Tsunade today, shouldn't I?" she said, already knowing what his answer would be.

"Only if you're hoping to ever get paid again," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders, turning towards her.

"What am I supposed to say? Last time I saw her, I almost tore her head off."

"And so the student becomes the master."

"That's  _not_  funny," Sakura said, pouting.

"I really don't think she'll hold it against you, Sakura, honestly. She's got more on her plate than a little attitude from her favorite student."

"She's beat me to a pulp for much less," Sakura muttered, remembering some of the... _harsher_  days of training she had been through with her mentor.

"Then bring along a bottle of sake, tell her it's an offering. Instead of a snot-nosed genin, be a snot-nosed chūnin. Then, someday, you can be a snot-nosed jōnin like me."

"…That might be a stroke of genius."

"I do try," he said, a deep rumble of laughter rising from his chest as he approached Sakura, stringing his arms lazily around her waist. Sakura let her head rest on his shoulder, drinking in his closeness. The early morning hours were still and silent around them as they embraced.

"I'm never going to get anything done with you hanging on me like this," Sakura commented, her eyes closed as she just breathed in the smell of Kakashi's skin. He snorted in response.

"Oh, I'd really hate to keep you from your busy day of sucking up."

"Yes, it's going to be quite demanding," Sakura said, jokingly, shoving him in the chest. "She's a slave-driver, Kakashi, and she always will be." Sakura snagged her shorts from the floor, shimmying into them.

"Thank god  _I_ don't have to go see her, that's a relief," he said, the tease in his voice brazen. Sakura didn't even give him the satisfaction of a look when she threw her sandal at his head with deadly accuracy. Kakashi whirled out of the way with a fraction of a second to spare, the shoe whizzing past his eyelashes and slamming into the wall hard enough to shake dust from the plaster.

"I also find your company deeply rewarding, thank you," he said with a throaty laugh.

Sakura brushed past him to retrieve her sandal, shoving it on her foot gracelessly.

"I don't think you'll be  _rewarded_  anytime soon, you dickhead," she said, not bothering to hide her smile as Kakashi pressed into her personal space yet again.

"That's too bad, I guess," he said, wrapping his arms around her middle and nuzzling her neck in a way that  _really_  wasn't helping her focus.

"Kaka _shiii,_ I gotta go," she whined.

"Hn."

"You can't settle for just making yourself late, you have to make me late too?"

"Hn," he repeated, the tips of his fingers trailing their way suspiciously under the hem of her sweater. Sakura's skin tightened, sparks traveling across her stomach, but she fought back the rush of desire that bloomed in her hips.

Sakura gripped her hand tightly around his chin, his body going still at her touch. Her lips ghosted hotly over the cheek of his mask, sending shivers down his neck and straight to his pants, even as scary as she was.

"I'll rip your hand off and take it to work with me."

"You would never," he scoffed, fake-scandalized, but backing away nevertheless.

"I'd reattach it, of course, when I need to," she teased, wiggling her hips at him just slightly.

"You're a monster."

"And so the student becomes the master," she quipped, making her way towards the door and into the hallway.

"That's my girl."

Sakura beamed at him.

* * *

A little less than an hour later, the sun was rising in earnest. Birdsong danced through the air, a chorus sung mostly for the dead.

Kakashi was where he normally was this early in the morning. The obsidian memorial stone glowed in the dawning sunlight, a foreboding aura that he welcomed just as he did every morning.

_What am I doing? What the hell am I doing?_

He stood quietly, hands in pockets and unmoving, for seemingly hours. The sky brightened around him as he carried out his daily vigil.

As always, that spot in his chest tightened considerably every time his eyes fell to catch over the ridges in the stone, the carved-out characters of Obito's name, of Rin's. Both seemed to carve themselves over and over again into his heart each and every time he saw them.

He had been later than usual to the memorial stone that morning. He had actually been late a lot lately. It was all those mornings spent with Sakura, so occupied with her that the painful emptiness that usually came with the morning sun didn't draw him here. But he was here now, leaving a likely very-annoyed genin team waiting somewhere for him to show up. He should probably pass them on to someone else soon, before they got too attached. It was the same thing he had done with every team since Team 7.

He could still smell the reek of failure on himself, if he thought about it too deeply. The first genin team he had ever passed, ever let stand for any length of time, and it still fell apart. Regardless of how hard he had tried. And how much of that had been his fault, focusing too much first on Sasuke, and then on Naruto? Ignoring Sakura for years and failing to ever truly push them as a  _group_ except for that first test? There was a certain amount of blame that fell on Kakashi's shoulders, he felt, for the fact that the team had fractured so deeply. He'd always ended up picking and choosing, playing favorites.

First Sasuke, out of some bastardized debt Kakashi felt like he owed to the Uchiha clan, to Obito, for his eye. Then Naruto, out of begrudging respect for the boy's sheer willpower, for Minato-sensei, or maybe because of his unsettling resemblance to who Obito had been. Especially with all that damn pandering about becoming Hokage. It was like Obito's shadow trailed behind each of those two boys, wringing Kakashi's washed-out heart every time he looked their way.

He guessed that was why he had let Sakura fall to the wayside all those years ago. Something about her conjured the ghost of Rin. It was the way she always cheered on her squad, always supporting them so blindly. The gentle but brutal way she applied bandages, the way she carried on if any of them moved too much on an injury. The way she always cared, always watched out for them. If he thought too hard about it, Rin's spectre would fade into view, he would feel her blood dripping over his palm.

Honestly, whoever had expected him to be able to run a genin squad had been an absolute fool. What did he know about a  _real_  team, he wondered? The teammates he  _had_ had, they had died in quick enough succession. His best friend crushed to death, more or less. Maybe the only girl he had ever begun to love in any sort of way, her chest bored through by his own fist.

His fingers twitched unconsciously.

But Rin wasn't the only girl he had ever loved, was she? Sakura was…something. Something very important. Could he admit to himself that he loved her? Kakashi's gut twisted uncomfortably. There was some deep, primal aversion to putting it in such plain words.

To love her would be to damn her. That's what fate had shown him again and again. His father, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei, everyone he dared to admit he loved, died. Horribly.

But to try and cut himself off from her was pointless, impossible. He had learned that well enough already. If he didn't succumb, God would just drop Sakura naked in front of him anyway, evidently. And he didn't  _want_ to be cut away from her. He  _wanted_  her so badly. He craved every inch of her warmth, of her softness, those things that cast such a rosy glow over the bleak grayness of his life. The idea of trying to go back to life ignoring her, even after only six goddamn days of this, was gutting. There was just absolutely no way.

So, the question remained.

_What the hell am I doing with her?_

Soft but discernable footsteps broke Kakashi out of his reverie.

"Morning, senpai."

Kakashi's shoulder twitched ever so slightly in acknowledgement, but he didn't turn from his spot.

"Morning, Tenzou."

The younger man came to stand beside Kakashi, one hand clenching his shoulder as he rolled it in its socket.

"You need to tire that girl out more, she's killing me."

At that, Kakashi reacted, a funny noise wrangling its way out of his throat. Yamato had meant it innocently enough, but the words had caught him off guard.

"Excuse me?"

"Having to repopulate old-growth forests every other day is going to send me into an early grave," Yamato said, shaking his creaky shoulder as if to emphasize his point. "You and Tsunade need to find something for her to do besides tear this place apart."

Kakashi snorted, imagining what would happen if he ever tried to get in Sakura's way when she went to pound her frustrations out in the dirt. Just the thought of it made his bones feel frighteningly brittle.

"You know as well as I do, that she does that on her own time. That's not even close to what she'd do if she was actually training...," he said, trailing off into thought. Yamato gave him a suspicious look, remembering the last time Kakashi had had that look on his face while discussing someone's training. He still had nightmares about being swarmed by hundreds of Naruto clones.

"I don't want to know what she would do."

"Come on. We could use your help."

"Is she a jinchūriki who needs sealing? No. I'm staying at a safe, reasonable distance," he said, trying to be firm, but Kakashi didn't seem to be listening to his refusal in the slightest. Yamato glared at him as he stared absently into the memorial stone, obviously lost in thought again.

* * *

Sakura tilted her head back and let her breath out in a huff. She had rushed back home to shower and change, then rushed to the only liquor store in town open this early, just to get to the Hokage Tower at a reasonable time. Yet now she was standing in the hallway outside of Tsunade's office, approaching a half hour of wandering the halls aimlessly to avoid what came next.

"Nothing left but to do the damn thing," she muttered to herself, not exactly thrilled. She straightened her head, rolled her shoulders, and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Sakura shouldered open the door, peeking around it carefully, just in case anything came flying for her head.

"Good morning, milady," she said, trying to be as polite as possible. It was probably in her best interest to tread carefully. Tsunade looked up from her desk and leaned back in her chair.

"It took you long enough," she said, crossing her arms.

"I know, but I brought you a present," the younger woman said, wiggling a tall paper bag at her mistress.

"Good girl," the elder said with a wry twist of her lips. She gestured for Sakura to shut the door behind her, her other hand reaching to pull open a drawer and retrieve two small porcelain cups.

"You do know that it's 9 in the morning?" Sakura asked, setting the brown bag on Tsunade's desk.

"Are you refusing my hospitality?" she asked, one eyebrow raising accusingly as she pulled out the tall glass bottle of sake. Tsunade read the label, giving the girl a nod of approval. "It's even the good stuff. I'm being very gracious right now, Sakura."

"Well, when you put it that way…" she said, coming to sit on the edge of the desk. Tsunade poured a generous amount of sake into each cup, pushing one towards Sakura. The pinkette held hers in both hands, taking deep, but polite, drags of the drink.

Tsunade guzzled hers like a shot, wasting no time in pouring a second. She set the graceful bottle on the surface of the desk with a satisfying  _thunk_  and held the small porcelain cup in one hand, leaning back in her chair.

"So," Tsunade said, rim of the cup balanced against her bottom lip.

"So," Sakura replied, taking another sip of her drink, thankful for the burn all the way down to her stomach. It warmed her from the inside out, bringing some of her courage to a boil.

Tsunade's eyes settled on hers, the two of them sitting in the silence for a long moment as the Hokage considered her apprentice.

"Adjusting well?"

"Adjusting, yes. Adjusting well, debatable."

"How so?"

Sakura tried to think of how to describe it, the budding excitement at the new extent of her abilities, or the accompanying fear that almost paralyzed her when she thought about what might happen if she lost control again, like she had when she was sparring Kakashi. The extent of her chakra's influence was dizzying when she really considered it, the sheer magnitude of it almost earth-shattering for her.

And that was just her work life. It didn't even begin to touch on what else she was going through, her burgeoning feelings for a certain someone. Maybe, if she was feeling particularly stupid, she'd tell Tsunade how she'd been spending her nights lately, with her legs wrapped around the waist of an older man.

"Whatever this Blood thing is, I think I can put it to good use…but...,"

"But what, Sakura?" Tsunade chided, never really one for beating around the bush.

"I'm only scratching the surface, I don't even know where to start with this. I almost stopped Kakashi-sensei's heart just by grabbing his arm. I rebuilt the pathways of Sasuke's ocular nerves in less time than I usually take for lunch. It's like, I can feel every electrical impulse, every blood cell, every muscle fiber. It's just so much. I can't even begin to deal with this. I- I don't know what to do, I don't-" Sakura's voice climbed in pitch as she spoke, real panic setting in for the first time since all of this had begun. Around Tsunade, Sakura could feel the steel walls of her resolve begin to warp and collapse.

The poor girl, honestly, was terrified. And as scary as she could be, Tsunade was her strongest, most stable protector, the mother figure she had always wished for. Now that Sakura had had time to process her anger, being around Tsunade didn't agitate her. Instead, it released a tide of emotion as Sakura finally let herself feel the strain of the past seven days. What she had discovered, while amazing breakthroughs, were overwhelming and borderline terrifying. And that wasn't even counting any of the other things she had managed to survive this week. The Blood, Kakashi, Sasuke; it was all too much for her to handle in that moment. Her muscles sagged, and she slid off the edge of the desk. Her ass hit the floor with a hard thump, eyes too clouded with tears to see that her cup had fallen with her, sake and shards of porcelain skittering across the cement floor.

For a moment, Tsunade was speechless. She hadn't seen Sakura fall apart like this in a very, very long time. The girl had made it her life's mission to toughen the hell up when she was a teenager, and she had damn well achieved it. But now, here she was, falling to pieces at Tsunade's feet.

The blonde woman scooted forward off the edge of her chair, letting herself fall heavily to the floor beside Sakura. She wrapped one arm around the girl's huddled, shaking shoulders, looking out of the window and into the distance as she held Sakura tightly.

After a while, Sakura's stifled cries subsided, until she was silently pinned into Tsunade's side, desperate for the relief of her closeness. Tsunade still kept her arm tightly around Sakura's shoulders, trying to convey some of the love or tenderness she always seemed to fail to put into words.

"Listen to me, and listen closely. It is not too much. You are Haruno Sakura, of the Hidden Leaf. Every person in this country considers you the greatest medic-nin in history. Although, I still retain that title until you earn a gray hair," she said, brusquely, trying in her own way to nudge a smile out of Sakura.

"You, Sakura, are my greatest accomplishment. I did not teach you to underestimate yourself. I taught you to  _push_  with everything you have, did I not?"

"You did," Sakura said, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.

"And the reason I taught you to  _push_?" Tsunade pressed, standing and pulling Sakura to her feet.

"Because I can move mountains," Sakura said, her voice small.

"Excuse me, I didn't hear you?" Tsunade chided, opening and reaching into her desk drawer to retrieve another cup for Sakura. The other still sat on the stone floor, the biting stench of rice wine evaporating around it; but that could wait, it would be somebody else's problem.

"Because I can move mountains," Sakura repeated, louder this time, surer of herself. Tsunade slammed her desk drawer shut again, filling the cup for Sakura and handing it to her with authoritative flair.

"Because you can move goddamn mountains," Tsunade affirmed, clinking the edge of her cup against Sakura's before throwing back the contents.

* * *

That was Tuesday; the next few days passed quickly for Sakura, almost a blur. Tsunade, as confident as ever in Sakura's ability, had sent her straight back to the hospital to work until she could devise a strategy to understand the change in Sakura's chakra. Kakashi was gone on a mission, leaving Sakura to her own devices for a few days.

Sakura was spending her days running around the medical facility, learning the extent of her control and pushing her new limits, her nights studying Sasuke's scrolls for any tiny clues as to what she could expect. Her perception of a foreign body, her new ability to manipulate the processes of said foreign body, it went beyond unprecedented.

Wednesday, she had sat with a teenage girl for two hours, chatting amicably, speeding her through a case of infectious mononucleosis. Sakura had moved her hands over the girl's body, hovering over her swelling spleen and lymph nodes, gathering every virion particle by the protein shell and ripping apart each spindle of DNA. Mono symptoms usually took three weeks to subside, this girl would go home after two days.

Thursday, Sakura was pulled into the burn unit for an emergency – an ANBU team caught in an explosion. One dead on arrival, one with burns over 60 percent of his body. Sakura had slowly, painstakingly, regrown his epidermis as best as she could. She was learning how to use her almost infinite control on an unbelievably micro level, taking the care to carefully string each fiber of collagen in the budding tissue in a way that would minimize the scarring this poor man was going to have. When she was done, the scarring was minimal, but the areas of gnarled flesh twisted the strings in Sakura's heart.

However, not all of her progress was so positive.

Friday afternoon was unseasonably dreary, storm clouds rolling in over the village skyline. The intermittent showers throughout the day did nothing to cool the air, making everything muggy and uncomfortable. After a few hours on call in the ER, Sakura spent the entire day in the air-conditioned haven of her office, catching up on some paperwork and trying in vain to keep from sweating through her clothes.

There was a hard rap at her door, making Sakura's head snap to attention as it opened.

"Haruno-sensei?"

"Yes?"

The nurse who opened the door was panting, leaning her weight heavily on the doorframe. There was still a wad of gauze clenched in her palm, rivulets of blood drying down her wrist.

"You're needed in OR 3, immediately, please," she managed to say between gasps of breath.

Sakura shot to her feet, scraping her hair into a bun as she ran out of the door. The nurse shut the office door behind them, and together they rushed towards the surgery wing.

"What happened?" Sakura asked as they ran.

"A shinobi, his arm's been crushed and they can't get the bleeding under control, they think they'll have to amputate-" the nurse replied, as they rounded a corner. Sakura burst in through a set of heavy double doors, cracking the joints of her hands and wrists in preparation, centering herself and metering her breath.

The hall of operating galleries was colder than the rest of the hospital, the lights brighter and smell of antiseptic stronger. The nurse rushed ahead of Sakura, pushing open another door and holding it open for her.

A circle of bodies surrounded the operating table, blood pooling and smearing over the floor with their rushed footsteps. One young intern even began to slip in the red, garish puddles, before he was caught by the arm and chided for not being careful. As she approached the table, her heart sank to her stomach. The man who had come to her door a few days ago, Moriki, was out cold on the table, his right arm a twisted and mangled pile of flesh.

Moriki's face was ashen, lips approaching blue. Sakura's eyes burned, but she willed it away, determined to do something.

He had always been very nice to her in the hallways and streets when they had passed each other, the kind of background character in her life that she didn't really realize how often she interacted with until she saw them in her hospital, hovering at the edge of death. Her throat tightened as she stared at his beaten body.

Sakura shoved another doctor out of the way unceremoniously, unimpressed with his progress.

"Vitals?" she asked, demanding, as she inspected the damage.

"Blood pressure is 80/40, heart rate is 130 per minute, he's lost approximately two liters of blood. Anti-shock therapy was administered, the wounds debrided, but we can't control the bleeding."

Sakura's eyes shut, face scrunching with concentration while her hands came to life with a bright flash of chakra flame. She hovered her palms over his shoulder. Sakura would be damned if she didn't do everything she could to save his arm, he deserved that much.

The extent of the injury turned Sakura's stomach as her chakra sank into the rent tissue. The muscle fibers twitched under the glow of her chakra, flesh and bone slowly twisting back into a more appropriate position. Her brow crinkled, pressure mounting there as she tried desperately to knit the veins together and into place in his arm. Blood still poured thickly out of the wounds, staining her skin and smearing across her coat. The smell of it crawled up through her nose and behind her eyes, drowning out the noises around her as she concentrated, fogging her senses until the only thing she had any awareness of was the ripped and bloody tissue twisting beneath her chakra.

She could feel the cracking of his bones in between her teeth as they began to meld back together, like each shard of bone was sticking between her gums and under her tongue. She tried not to gag as the overwhelming sensation of his injuries only settled heavier and heavier across her senses. Sakura could feel Moriki's blood pressure continuing to drop, the blood continuing to pour out onto the table and floor. She surged more chakra out through her palms, willing it to move faster, work quicker, to rebuild his arm before it was too late. The energy flowed through her like fire, surging into his cells and burning the air until it crackled. The only things in the world were the surges of her chakra and the pulse of Moriki's blood.

"No, be careful!"

Sakura's concentration was suddenly broken as someone fell against her side. Time slowed to a crawl as she lost control over the flow of her energy, the streams of chakra breaking and whipping violently as Sakura stopped breathing. Her eyes opened in time to see Moriki's arm, maybe two or three inches of the crushed limb reconstructed at this point, rip into ribbons of wet muscle. Her ears rang with cottony silence as she watched.

She could still feel what was happening in his flesh as it ripped apart. Sakura could feel her own haywire chakra slamming through the cells of his arm, streaming into his fingertips and tearing everything apart with a tremendous rush of pressure. She struggled to hold the bomb of energy down, compressing it and pulling it back into her body. The other doctors and nurses in the room ducked as blood vessels shredded, skin and bits of bone flying across the room and embedding in the walls. Sakura felt of sliver of it pierce the shell of her left ear, traveling straight through the cartilage and beyond.

The burst of blood coated her face and front, covering her with a sickly warmth and dripping between her open lips. The smell drowned her, vision going white and sound going silent. Her brain tumbled over itself, and she fell to the ground, chin hitting the marble with a crack.

Sakura fell unconscious on the ground, blood pooling in her mouth.

* * *

Sakura came to in her examination room, laid out on her exam table. The lights were off, the only light coming in through the rain pelting softly against the window. She pushed herself up onto her elbows, nose wrinkling in distaste at the paper gown she was dressed in.

"Don't sit up too fast, Sakura!" someone said, a warm hand pressing into her back to help support her as she almost fell back into the table. She squinted, trying to focus her blurry vision.

"Naruto?" she mumbled, the word messy in her mouth as she tried to speak through a busted lip. She reached her hand to her mouth, dragging her finger across the swollen lump, and winced.

"Yeah, I'm here. Stop that," he said, swatting her hand away from her face.

"Sakura, how are you feeling?" came another voice, this time Tsunade's. Sakura's vision settled, and she saw the two of them watching her with concern.

"My head hurts."

"Not surprising," Tsunade said, reaching forward and touching two fingers to Sakura's lip. There was a gentle hum as she healed the split lip and soothed Sakura's aching jaw.

"Moriki, is he-"

"He coded," Tsunade said, shortly, locking eyes with Sakura.

"I, was it-" Sakura choked out, brain almost refusing to remember what had happened. But the image replayed in her mind's eye anyway, the burst of blood playing over and over for her like a grisly snuff film.

"It's my professional opinion that he wasn't going to survive in the first place," Tsunade said. She stood up from the little stool Sakura kept in the room and walked over to look out of the window. "However, I don't think what happened exactly helped."

Her words sank Sakura's heart, the young woman's cheeks flushing as tears dripped over them. Naruto rubbed her bare back, trying to offer some semblance of emotional support. Sakura leaned into him heavily, grateful for his warmth in the bone-piercing chill of the hospital.

"Tell me what happened."

"I was healing his arm, the limb was crushed and he was losing so much blood. I was so focused, I couldn't see, I couldn't hear…I could have saved him, Lady Tsunade, I know I could have."

"I know, Sakura," she said, her voice gentler now. She came back around to Sakura's side, taking her hand and squeezing it with reassurance.

"I think someone slipped, fell into me. I lost my focus, but the chakra was, just…different. It exploded. It just, it eviscerated everything. It should have just stopped, but it, it ripped him apart-" she said, beginning to hyperventilate. She turned to bury her face in Naruto's chest, staining the black fabric with her tears.

She had lost patients before, everyone does eventually. She had made mistakes before, just like everyone. But who  _atomizes someone's limb?_  Who accidentally  _kills_ someone like that? Sakura had thought she was improving, overcoming the limits of what she thought medical ninjutsu could achieve. Yet this, this destroyed every stitch of that hope. All this was, was uncontrollably powerful chakra that did as it pleased with visceral, violent outcomes. The moment she was confident was the moment she lost control, just like with Kakashi in the training grounds, just like now.

"I killed him, shishou, I lost control and I killed him-" she cried, vomit rising in her throat and threatening to hit the floor.

"Sakura, hush," Tsunade commanded, dropping a hand to hold Sakura's shoulder and turn her to face her. "He was going to die anyway. You did  _not_ kill him, bandits in the outskirts of Fire Country did. He was not conscious, he did not feel any pain from what happened. You did everything you could, what happened was an accident."

Sakura nodded slowly, not really believing her.

Tsunade sighed. "But until we know you have more control, I'm afraid you're going to have to take a leave of absence."

Sakura's eyes fell to her knees, shoulders folding under the weight of Tsunade's words. She was right, it was a necessary precaution, but Sakura was gutted. Healing, saving lives, taking care of those in her charge…it was who she was.

"Yes, shishou."

Tsunade sighed again, heavily. "It won't be forever. We're going to work this out, I know that between us we can get through this block in the road. Until then, you should go home."

"Yes, shishou," Sakura repeated, numbly. She turned to push herself off the table and to her feet, but her knees fell out from beneath her. Naruto caught her in his arms, and she almost collapsed into tears again. She hated being like this, feeling useless and pathetic, unable to even heal her own busted lip or walk on her own two feet. Naruto unbuttoned his black uniform jacket, wrapping it around Sakura's shoulders before hefting her back into his arms. She felt like a child, but she couldn't will herself to fight it, physically and mentally exhausted as she was.

"Naruto is going to take you home. I suggest you rest for a few days, understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Sakura whispered into Naruto's shoulder.

Tsunade pulled open the glass pane of the window, squinting into the sky as the rain petered out.

"Go, before it starts again."

Both young Leaf shinobi nodded, one numb, one worried. Naruto jumped to the sill of the window, readjusting Sakura's weight to make sure she was safe while he ran, and then leaped into the rooftops.

Sakura curled into a tight ball as he ran, squinting her eyes as the jostling wrenched through her skull and made her brain throb. As uncomfortable as she was, though, she felt safe in his arms. He smelled like a rich ramen broth, which was pretty normal for Naruto, if she was being honest. The scent, and the back and forth rocking as he ran to her house, lulled her into a hazy sleep as her tiredness edged in around her.

When Naruto got to her building, he made his way up the stairs slowly, much quieter than the last time. He approached her door, unsure of what to do. He didn't want to wake her, but he needed to get her door unlocked. A few moments passed, with him standing there awkwardly until the other door in the hallway creaked open.

"Sakura, dearie, is that you?"

Naruto turned his head to see the short, baubled woman in the doorway, peering out at them. When she saw him standing there, Sakura in his arms, she flushed a deep red, pulling her robe tighter over her chest.

"Naruto-sama, I didn't realize it was you!" she gushed, quietly so as not to wake Sakura. Naruto blushed lightly, sheepish. He still wasn't exactly used to the praise or attention from the villagers after the war, but he managed well enough. It was something he'd have to learn to live with if he hoped to be the Hokage.

"You wouldn't happen to have her key, would ya?"

"Oh, yes, yes of course!" she said, momentarily retreating into her apartment. Naruto's nose twitched, the incense smoke that rolled out of her doorway tickling his nostrils. She came back quickly, oversized plastic pearls clacking against each other as she hurried into the hall and to Sakura's door.

"Here, follow me sweetheart," she murmured to him, showing him the lit candle that she had brought from her apartment to light their way through the apartment without risking Sakura's waking.

"Good idea, lady," he said, smiling brightly. She smiled, blushing anew, and patted his arm in the way only that only a sweet, flattered old woman could. She led him through the dark apartment and into Sakura's bedroom, holding the candle high so Naruto could see as he tucked the sleeping woman into her bed. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and bent to kiss the top of her head.

Naruto worried about Sakura, he worried about her a lot. She had always pushed herself so hard, demanding more of herself than he thought humanly possible. Sakura was his best friend, godmother of his unborn child. Seeing her like that earlier…it had broken his heart. She cared so much about every person she treated, cared about their lives like they were her family. When he had been told what happened, he was gutted for her. There was no way she was going to handle this well, not at all.

He pulled the duvet over her shoulders, leaving her to sleep in his jacket. He could get it back from her another time.

Naruto rose to follow Sakura's neighbor out and into the hallway. She locked the door behind them, tucking the key safely into the pocket of her robe.

"Thanks, lady, I really didn't wanna have to wake her up."

"Don't mention it, dear. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for that girl, you know."

"Same here," he said, sighing and looking back at Sakura's front door, his face drawn with concern.

"And that includes making sure she isn't sleeping with anyone…distasteful," she said, eyes falling pointedly to the gold band on Naruto's left ring finger.

"Excuse me?" he choked out,  _very_  much caught off guard, whirling to face the older woman. She was already unlocking her door, taking a moment to set her candle down inside the doorway.

"So, it  _wasn't_ you who was here last Sunday, making all that racket?" she asked, eyes squinting with mild accusation. "It would be very unseemly if you were running around this village, two-timing and breaking women's hearts, Naruto-sama," she said, one hand pointing again at his wedding band.

"God, lady, no!"

* * *

It was several hours later that Sakura awoke, the sound of rain pelting against her window rousing her from sleep.

No, it wasn't the rain. It was a sharp tap-tap-tap against the frame of the window, from the metal plate of a shinobi glove. The shadow on the fire escape was huddled against the rain, hood drawn up to shield the wearer from the wetness pouring from the sky.

Sakura managed to pull herself to her feet, nose wrinkling in disgust at the paper gown she still wore under Naruto's black jacket. She stumbled drowsily over to the window, yanking it open. Raindrops fell through the opening, splattering against her face and making her sneeze with surprise.

"That was surprisingly cute," the figure said, dropping into the room and sliding the glass shut.

"I try," she mumbled, forcing herself to walk to her dresser and change. Sakura pulled on clean underwear and an old shirt, leaving the paper gown in a crumpled heap on the floor. When she turned around, Kakashi was trying to free himself of the dripping cloak without getting rainwater all over the room and carpet.

"And to think I used to think you were smooth," she said, approaching him to help. Her small, deft fingers untwisted the fabric around the closure, pulling it free and letting the soaked garment splat to the ground. Whatever. That was tomorrow-Sakura's problem. Tonight-Sakura wanted nothing more than to crawl back into her bed and succumb to her exhaustion.

However, tonight-Kakashi was holding a conspicuously huge plastic bag in one hand, a coy glint in his eye.

Sakura sat on the edge of her bed and looked at him expectantly.

"What did you do?"

"I brought you a welcome-back present."

"Wouldn't that be my job, considering you're the one who went on a mission?"

"Yes, but I'm better at gifts than you, clearly," he said, toeing off his sandals and pulling off his flak jacket.

"Bold words coming from the man who has never come to a single birthday party."

"I give good gifts because I can pick and choose when to give them. Now close your eyes," he ordered, and Sakura complied obediently. For a second, there was nothing but the tell-tale rustle of plastic, and then she was wrapped in something heavy and warm.

"Now open."

Sakura cracked opened one eye in hesitation, then both in surprise. Kakashi had wrapped her up like a little kid in a huge, fluffy pink blanket, patterned with tiny little kunai and shuriken. When she had joked about it in his tiny studio, she hadn't expected him to  _actually_ get her a duvet like this.

Tears began welling in her eyes, as she was too emotionally spent to control her reaction to something so indescribably  _sweet_. He had gone out of his way, on the way back from a mission, in the middle of the night, in the pouring rain, just to buy and bring her a silly blanket. Just because she had  _asked_  for one. This one little moment of proof that Kakashi cared for her sent her tumbling over the edge. Sakura jumped up from the edge of the mattress to hug him, pulling his shoulders down so she could kiss his masked cheek and wrap her arms around his neck. The little display of kindness he had shown her with this, it soothed her raw and aching heart, making her feel more human, more deserving of being alive still. Tears spilled out of Sakura's eyes and down her cheeks, their saltiness pooling ever so barely at the corners of her lips.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" he asked, guiding her back to the bed as she cried. She scooted over on the mattress, pulling him along with her. She refused to let go of him.

"I- I killed-" she choked out, trying to tell him what had happened. Her chest constricted, brain fumbling for words. "On the operating table, Moriki, he-" she tried to continue, but she was quickly devolving into hysteria. The feeling of his flesh shredding into gristly wet ribbons of blood and tissue still played over and over again in her brain. Her heart leaped into her throat, and even in the overwhelming confusion, she knew it was beating far too fast. She could feel her blood pressure skyrocketing as blackness crept at the edge of her vision.

"Sakura, Sakura look at me," he commanded, taking her chin gently in his hand and forcing her to look in his eyes. His Sharingan was spinning hazily, a faint red glow in the darkness of the room. Sakura was hypnotized into silence immediately, all traces of panic melting from her face. Within moments, she was unconscious.

Guilt grew two-fold in Kakashi's chest as he tucked Sakura back into the blankets, arranging her so that she rested against his side where he could keep two fingers on her pulse. For one, he had used his Sharingan on her, in a way he had promised himself that he would never do to someone he cared about. Knocking her out without her permission was a risky move, even if he had just done it to calm her down from a panic attack, something he thought she was long past. Second, he had used his Sharingan at all, and even though it had only been minutes, he could feel the pressure that had already begun to build again behind his iris, burning through his nerves and into the base of his brain. She would probably kill him.

He sighed, pulling the pink shuriken blanket over the both of them.

Consequences could wait until morning.


	11. Spilled

Sakura woke up a little before sunrise the next morning, throat dry and begging for water. She rolled over under the blankets, rubbing her eyes. She felt the breadth of Kakashi's back next to her and snuggled in closer to him.

Sakura was exhausted and everything hurt. She had thrown too much of her chakra through her arms yesterday, and now her hands were stiff and felt swollen, joints locked into funny angles. She winced, trying to flex her sore fingers, willing herself not to cry when she thought about it. In her heart, it felt like her own fault that Moriki was dead.

Sakura rolled back over to look at the ceiling, stewing in her turmoil.

So, maybe Moriki  _had_  been too far gone. If she thought about it objectively, like she should as a professional medic, she knew that. He had lost so much blood by the time she'd gotten into the OR, his heart beating far too fast and pumping out all of the blood in his body through the destroyed arm, that any hope for his survival had always been a long shot. His blood pressure had dropped critically low, organs battling with the lack of life-giving fluid as it failed to travel to his brain, to his limbs, only pouring over the floor and Sakura's clothes.

Her clothes.

The mess of blood all over. Drenching her from head to toe, it had coated her like a sick second skin, streaming between her lips and into her mouth, down the side of her throat and across her chest.

Bile rose in Sakura's throat and she shot out the bed, racing for the bathroom. It took all of her years of training not to fall over on her shaking legs. She threw herself in front of the toilet, knees cracking painfully against the cold tile. Her nostrils burned with stomach acid as she gagged, vomiting violently. The smell of blood still clung to the air around her, somehow, turning her stomach and making her skin crawl. She tried to hold back the tears as she puked, stomach muscles clenching and shooting pains up her spine.

Sakura nearly flinched out of her skin when she felt a warm, gentle hand ghost over the back of her neck. Kakashi had woken up when she jumped out of bed and followed her into the bathroom when she began to be sick. He squatted beside her, pulling her hair back away from her sweaty face and rubbing her back for support. Sakura shooed away the feeling of embarrassment that had followed him in behind her, too occupied with her gag reflex to worry about how disgusting this had to be for him to watch.

When it was finally over, she spat thickly into the toilet and flushed it. Sakura tried to stand, but her knees quivered, and she fell heavily into Kakashi's side. Now, shame bubbled up with more force. She couldn't even stand on her own.

"Lemme brush my teeth," she mumbled, unable to bring herself to look into his face. He was silent as she turned and leaned toward her sink, fumbling around for her toothbrush. Kakashi only kept his hands on her waist, taking the brunt of her weight to keep her standing. Sakura was grateful, if ashamed, as she did her best to scrub the vile taste of sick out of her mouth. She spit and rinsed, then turned around to lean against the porcelain sink, pulling out of his grip and holding her face in her hands.

"God, I'm sorry," she said, eyes covered by her fingers. The whole ordeal had certainly not been cute to watch, she was sure. Sakura heard Kakashi snort and peeked at him between her fingers. He was shaking his head as he came in close. She squeaked when he swiped her feet out from under her, catching her neatly in his arms. Sakura blushed, staring pointedly over his shoulder and not at his face.

"Why should you apologize for being sick? As if that makes sense," he scoffed, carrying her out through the bathroom and through the bedroom into the living room, setting her gently on the couch. "Besides," he said, voice rising in volume as he walked back into the bedroom. "It's not like I haven't seen you sick before. Remember when you tried to go on a diet when you were  _supposed_ to be training?"

Sakura rolled her eyes in annoyance. Back when she had been a genin, a young and naïve girl still clinging to civilian standards, she had always been trying one diet or another. She had worried about gaining too much weight or building too much muscle and not being cute enough. Well, she had definitely gained weight, most of it hard, cut muscle, but nowadays she knew it was just the necessary lifestyle of a kunoichi. But back then, she had still been hung up on having a cute, girlish figure. So, after a  _particularly_ grueling afternoon of training on the tail end of a week-long starvation diet of ginger-lemonade, Sakura had tried to force down some protein-supplicant snack and puked all over the training grounds, and to an even more mortifying extent, her own dress.

She flushed, just thinking about it. Naruto had been disgusted, screeching about it and all but running in the other direction with his nose pinched between thumb and forefinger. Even Sasuke had shown a rare display of any fleeting emotion, looking at her heat-sick form laid out in the grass with distaste.

Kakashi had only sighed at Sakura with resignation, sending the boys home and helping her over to the river so she could splash her face with cool water. He had even stood guard behind her, offering her his jōnin sweater to wear so she could peel off the vomit-stained qipao and hold it in the rushing water, changing in as much privacy as could be offered in the open field. She probably even still had that sweater somewhere, stashed away in the back of some drawer.

That was the first time she had seen his ANBU tattoo, back when he had sat next to her on the riverbank in the late afternoon sun. She'd looked it up later, adding a new layer to her understanding of who he was. He had pulled off his sandals, peeled away the bandages at the hem of his pants and stuck his feet in the water. Sakura had only been able to stare at his masked profile in abject shock – he rarely took the time to focus on her like that. Not to mention, he  _never_ let his guard down that much.

" _Why are you doing this?" Kakashi-sensei asked, not looking at her. His feet dangled off the edge of the bank, floating under the waves of rushing water. Sakura pulled her legs to her chest, crossing her arms over her kneecaps._

" _I wouldn't expect you to know what it's like to be a girl and care about your figure," Sakura said haughtily._

" _We're shinobi, Sakura. We_ are  _our bodies, we're soldiers, bought and paid for commodities," he said, bluntly, striking Sakura silent. "If you care more about your daily calorie intake than about your ninjutsu skill, you're going to die a bloody, painful death."_

" _Well, I-" she tried to say, struck dumb. Sakura could only stare blankly at her teacher as he sat there, staring off into the horizon. It was rare that anyone dropped reality at her feet like this._

" _I don't want to die," she whispered, feeling shy and ashamed. Sometimes, surrounded by these seemingly-immortal boys and such a strong and ineffable leader, Sakura forgot the very real, very fatal dangers she encountered so regularly. Sure, she had done well in the Academy, and yeah, she was stupid good with her chakra control. But she was still weak, paling beyond pathetic in comparison to her teammates. She had no Sharingan, none of Naruto's unexplainable stamina and power. All she had were her smarts and some painfully average abilities._

" _You're still a genin, so for now, I'll be around to protect you," he said, shrugging. "But if you plan to live to see adulthood, you need to stop depriving your body and hurting yourself."_

_Sakura nodded, really only to herself. The two of them sat there in silence for a few minutes, Sakura deep in thought, Kakashi leaning back on his hands and kicking his feet idly. Sakura was still too young to really take notice, but this was one of the few times the man allowed himself to relax around any of his students. He was a universally recognized spectre of death with a laundry list of confirmed kills at least ten feet long, but he was still just a 26-year-old dude trying to make each day livable. His chin tilted ever so slightly upward, enjoying the warmth of the sun across his cheeks. Part of him was tempted to pull down his mask, to breathe easier. His weight even began to shift to allow his hand to rise and pull the fabric down in the warm silence, but-_

" _Sensei?"_

" _Yeah?" he answered, hand quickly falling back into the grass. What the_ hell  _was that about, almost pulling down his mask? Where did he think he was?_

_Sakura scooted forward, moving to the river bank. She pulled off her sandals too, dropping her toes to wiggle in the water. She propped her elbows on her legs, resting her chin in her hands and looking out over the wooded skyline._

" _My father was a shinobi, a long time ago. He died when I was really, really little."_

_Kakashi turned ever so slightly, just enough to see her better in the peripheral of his one uncovered eye. He hadn't known that about her, wouldn't have expected it with her normal-looking house and sunny disposition. He was well aware of Naruto and Sasuke being orphans, everybody was, but it wasn't common knowledge that Sakura had been raised by a single mother. He felt a little more aware of her now, knowing this. She was more like the other two, like himself, than he had thought._

" _He didn't even die on a mission, he died when he went on a trip to find special flowers for my mother, out in the Land of Tea. Special golden bluebells, for their anniversary. He ran into some sort of robbery on the road. Too many bandits still active so soon after the war, I guess."_

_Sakura paused, picking a blade of grass out of the ground._

" _My mom was really scared after that, she didn't like to leave the house. Growing up like that, sometimes I felt really scared too. I would get so scared sometimes, I'd just have to sit down and cry or it felt like my heart would give out. The doctors said we had anxiety, because of what happened with Daddy."_

_She sighed, more tiredness in her eyes than a twelve-year-old should have. More than she ever showed to anyone._

" _Mama and I dealt with it different. When Ino said she was going to the Academy, I decided to go too, because I thought, if I could be strong like Daddy, maybe I wouldn't be scared anymore. That I could protect Mama, so she wouldn't be scared anymore. But it didn't really work out that way. I'm still scared, and now Mama hates part of me for doing what we do, for being like my father. She thinks I'm stupid for risking my life. She's probably right."_

_Sakura laid on her back in the grass, staring into the sky._

" _But I don't really care, because at least I can keep her safe, I think. I can protect her. That's why Daddy was a shinobi, that's why he died, trying to protect people. And I didn't want that to die with him."_

_Kakashi pulled his feet out of the water and turned to face her completely. She was sprawled out in the grass as if to make snow angels. When he moved, Sakura tilted her head to the side, her still feverish and sunburnt face pressing into the dewy grass to look at him as he spoke._

" _That was the Will of Fire."_

" _Like a nindo?"_

" _Sort of," he replied, scratching the back of his neck. "But your Will of Fire is deeper. It's about your people, not you. Your nindo is how you carry out your duty; your Will of Fire is why."_

_Sakura's face turned back to the sky, a sound of acknowledgment leaving her lips. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply through her nose._

" _Get up," Kakashi said, not unkindly._

" _Hmm?" Sakura asked, opening her eyes to see him standing, redressing his bandages and pulling on his shoes. He stood over her, reaching a hand down to help her to her feet._

" _I need to make sure you get home without passing out, at least. People might think less of me otherwise."_

That had been the day Sakura decided to give up all of the dumb diets, once and for all. The next morning, there had been a big pink basket of fruits and vegetables, and even chips of all things, on her front steps, tagged with the Henohenomoheji face. There had even been a short note scribbled at the bottom, " _For the Will of Fire_."

"Ew, I don't need to be starting a trend here," she called after him, and she heard his laugh from inside her bedroom.

"You could do worse than once every ten years," he joked, coming back out into the living room. Sakura was carefully popping and massaging her knuckles when she looked up, and she blushed. He was carrying a small mountain of pillows and the shuriken-printed blanket, the edge of it trailing along comedically behind him. He dropped the whole fluffy mess on top of her unceremoniously, making her laugh in spite of herself.

Kakashi dug through the pile to find her, tweaking Sakura's nose when she broke through to the air. He found the blush across her cheeks incredibly cute. It pulled at the strings of his heart, almost bringing one to the surface of his own skin, but he managed to tamp it down.

"You wouldn't happen to know how to make tea, would you?" Sakura asked, feeling guilty to be asking him to make tea for her in her own home. She just felt too tired, too bone-achingly exhausted to make it to the kitchenette.

"I  _am_ a grown man," he said with mock offense, getting up to start a pot of water boiling. Neither of them dared to mention how much of an issue that could truly be, as he rifled through her cabinets for the tea.

"Above the knives," she called out, trying to help.

"Spotted," she heard him say to himself, then the sound of the cardboard box being dragged out of the cabinet. Sakura took a moment to rearrange the pillows around her to relieve some of the pain in her upper back, pulling the blanket around her lap.

She could just barely see dawn beginning to edge over the sky when Kakashi returned, a mug of tea in hand, and what looked suspiciously like her bathroom trashcan.

"In case you get sick again," he said, setting it down beside her. She took the cup from him, wrists cracking noticeably as she did so. Sakura sighed. She handed it back to him, gesturing for him to set it on the table.

"Can you not heal them?" Kakashi asked, his voice low.

"I could, but I…" she said, trailing off into silence. Her eyes began to water as she avoided looking into Kakashi's eye, looking toward the ceiling instead. If she even began to think about generating that warm glow of healing chakra right now, her throat burned with acid and her gut tightened, threatening to throw vomit all over the floor. She choked it down and began rhythmically popping her fingers and wrists yet again.

Kakashi took one of her hands from her, nudging away her push of protest. He began massaging them for her, rolling the joints a little more savagely than Sakura could have done in her current state.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

Sakura gulped, forcing herself to look at least somewhat more in his direction. A sigh of relief worked its way from between her lips as he whipped her wrist in a circle, a loud crack snapping its way through her wrist and elbow and releasing a string of pressure that had stretched all the way to her shoulder. Coppery spit began to gather under her tongue just trying to think about what she would try to say.

"No, not yet, I don't think," she whispered, one tear rolling down her cheek. "I just want to spend a day thinking about literally anything else."

Sakura had lost patients before, but she had never  _hurt_  someone she was trying to help like that. Never. The way his flesh had rendered into airborne shreds – the memory turned her stomach over in its place. Her ear throbbed where it had been pierced with a shard of Moriki's bone, a grim reminder of what had happened the day before.

Kakashi moved to her other hand, humming lightly.

It betrayed everything she was, everything she had been trying to do. When she had been knocked out of her concentration, lost control of the powerful surges of her chakra, it had behaved so abnormally. It had whipped and slammed in the air, burning it, ripping and basically blowing up the shredded remains of Moriki's arm. He'd almost certainly bled out just as Sakura had hit the floor.

Sakura was terrified that if she tried to summon her healing chakra, it would only happen again. She wasn't in control anymore, not of this powerful reserve of burning energy that reacted so violently to blood and bone, flowed so deep and full of awareness through chakra networks and bloodstreams.

He whipped her left wrist, the joints all along her arm again cracking with satisfaction. Sakura's shoulders sagged with relief, and she collapsed back into the pillows. Her eyes closed, Sakura waved her hands expectantly in the air, fingers opening and closing comedically until Kakashi handed her the steaming mug of matcha tea. She ignored his snort of laughter as she took a sip, grateful for the way it quenched her thirst and soothed her acid-burned throat.

"Thank you, Kakashi," she said, finally meeting his eyes. She hoped he knew that she meant it for more than just the tea.

"Anytime," he replied. He did.

Kakashi left not long after that, presumably to train with that genin team of his. It was barely five am, and Sakura was still exhausted and sore. Not to mention, emotionally drained. She fell asleep soon after he was gone, bundled in the pillows and blankets as she was.

* * *

"Psst. Shikamaru.  _Pssssst. SHIKAMARU!"_

The man in question's eyebrow twitched. He hunched over, clenching his cigarette between his teeth, trying to hide. But it was too late unless he was planning on running. Which sounded like  _such_  a drag, he really didn't feel like expending all of that energy right now. Instead, he took a deep, desperate drag of his cigarette and straightened his spine, leaning back with resignation.

"What, Naruto?" he asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

The blond man snuck up behind him, peeking to the left and right to be sure that no one saw him.

_Idiot, I'm only up here to hide from people like_ you  _in the first place._

They were both on the roof of the library, far away from anywhere any normal person was going to come strolling past.

"Why are you acting so weird, man? Can you, I don't know, chill or something?" Shikamaru whined.

"I'm looking for Ino."

"Then why are you bothering  _me?_ "

"You're the one dating her!"

"Yes, and it's exhausting enough. I'm not going to start tracking her all the time!"

"But like, just this once, dude!"

"Do it yourself!"

"I don't want to, she's your girlfriend!"

"I don't want to either! Ask your wife, she probably knows. All these women always know everything about everyone all the time," he said, taking the cigarette between his fingers and flicking the ash to the side.

Naruto glared at him, tapping his foot impatiently. Shikamaru put the cigarette back between his lips and inhaled.

"So, are you going to tell me where she is?"

"Yeah, yeah."

More silence.

"Shikamaruuuuuu-"

"God, fine, yes, Naruto. Shut  _up,"_  he said, pushing himself to his feet and walking away. He turned to look over his shoulder, calling back to the annoyed-looking blond. "Well, are you coming? She's at the flower shop."

"Well, jeez. If you knew already, why didn't you just say so?"

"Because I was hoping you'd leave and not drag me into whatever this is," Shikamaru said, dropping from the third story roof and landing lightly on the hardpacked dirt street. Naruto quickly followed suit, their unwarned arrival making the woman in the vendor stall next to them jump with surprise.

"Weeeeeell," Naruto said, dragging it out with a leering grin. "Dontcha wanna know what I need to see her about?" he asked, poking the back of Shikamaru's shoulder. It made the cigarette between his teeth twitch tellingly with annoyance.

"No."

"Yes, you do. It's really,  _really_  good."

"No," he repeated, as they turned the corner onto the street where the Yamanaka Flower Shop stood.

"Yes."

"I'll find out when you tell Ino anyway, so stop being so loud, please," he begged, tiredly. He loved the guy like a brother, but damn if Naruto didn't remind him of his genin trainees. He was just as goddamn exhausting. Shikamaru pushed open the door, and the little bell rang above their heads.

"Hey there, sweetie. Hey, Naruto," said the girl they were looking for, leaned over a magazine on the counter and not making any effort to look up. "What's up?"

"He came to bother me of all people, trying to find you," Shikamaru said, walking up to the counter and leaning back against it.

"Hmm, no clue as to why that would be, huh?" she teased, leaning over to plant a kiss right beneath his ear, the cold metal of his earring tickling her nose. Shikamaru did his best to hide the shivers, but it wasn't much.

Naruto pretended to gag, sticking out his tongue and pointing his finger down his throat.

"Oh, shut up, Mr. Mom," she said, smacking him over the head with her magazine.

"Owww!"

"So, what did you come all the way over here to tell me?" she asked nonchalantly, picking at her cuticles with boredom.

Naruto began to grin wickedly, one hand rising to shield his words as he spoke conspiratorially.

"Sakura's neighbor accused me of sleeping with her."

Ino and Shikamaru both gaped at him.

"Ohmygosh, are you?!" she almost screamed.

"NO! Shut up! Why do people keep thinking that!"

"What else are we supposed to think when you say something like that?!" Shikamaru asked.

"Well, for one it means she's sleeping with  _somebody!_  We have to find out who it is!"

"I really don't think-"

"No, Shikamaru," Ino said, cutting him off. She planted her fist and raised a fist in determination. "Our sweet little Sakura  _never_  gets any, and if she is, she should be telling me every sweaty little detail. I  _knew_ she was getting it in with  _somebody_."

Shikamaru winced, not liking the direction things were taking.

"Did you really have to say sweaty?"

"Who could it be?" Naruto demanded, slamming his palm into the counter and ignoring the glare Ino sent him for doing so.

"How am I supposed to know? I just told you she hasn't told me anything. Get your hands off of the marble, please," she said, rolling up the magazine and using it to push his palm off of the counter. Naruto stuck his tongue out at her when she leaned over to inspect the glossy finish for fingerprints.

"You have to have  _some_ idea though, Ino," he begged. "Her neighbor said all she knew was that he was a ninja, so we can at least work from that, right?"

"How on earth would she have known that without having seen him?"

"Uh," he stammered, neck and face going bright red. "She said he, uh, had too much…stamina for it to be otherwise."

Shikamaru had to laugh at that, tears coming to his eyes. He could just imagine Naruto having to stand there, being accused of having sex with Sakura Haruno by her neighbor just because she knew he was a shinobi. Naruto shoved him in his shoulder.

"Get fucked, Nara."

"Oh, he will," Ino interrupted, looking into space with her fingers tapping against her chin thoughtfully, making Shikamaru grin devilishly. "The question is, who's fucking Haruno?"

* * *

Mid-afternoon, Kakashi was in the very back booth of some dimly lit bar, a mostly untouched bottle of sake in front of him as he pretended to read his book.

"I thought I might find you here."

Kakashi looked up to see Yamato, hands in his pockets, looking down at him with concern.

"Good sleuthing, detective."

"I heard you transferred your team," he said, ignoring the comment and sliding into the booth across from Kakashi. Kakashi flicked his book closed and tucked it into his waistband, giving up on trying to read it. He raised his hand to get the bartender's attention, gesturing for another cup.

"I did," he confirmed, taking the cup that was brought and filling it, pushing it to Yamato's side of the table.

"And why is that?"

"Don't want them to get too attached. We've seen how it usually goes with my teams," he said, sipping at his sake.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Kakashi gave the man a tired look, meaning clear in his gaze. Yamato sighed.

"I wouldn't exactly place that blame on you. For one, the Uchiha kid had some pretty major stuff going on at the get."

Kakashi snorted. "You don't become a shinobi if you aren't already a little fucked up."

"You've got me there."

* * *

Ino and Naruto were making their way to Sakura's apartment. Ino had forced Naruto to carry bags of food and bottles of wine, piles of romance movies, anything she could see as necessary for getting Sakura to spill the beans. Naruto, of course, was moaning and groaning about it.

"Why couldn't Shikamaru come and help me carry all this stuff?" he asked, whining.

"Because he'd be no help, you knucklehead. It's going to be hard enough to get Sakura to talk, without him complaining and trying to smoke up her whole house."

"Yeah, well…fine, whatever," he replied, making a face. His face perked up again as he asked, "So what are we doing?"

"We're going to go up there, cheer her up, get her drunk, and find out who it is that's been spending the night. Do you not listen to things when they're planned? We literally just went over this."

"Ehhh." He waddled ahead, electing not to answer her, for his own sake.

They rounded onto Sakura's street, her building's tile roof gleaming in the sunlight. Her apartment was obvious, soft pink curtains bundled behind the glass windows.

"Ugh," she groaned, rubbing her temples with annoyance. "Just don't talk too much and follow my lead, okay?"

"I can do that."

"I'm going to pretend I believe you, because I really would rather not carry any of that," she said with a sigh, opening the door to the building and leading them up the stairs.

"I can be sneaky, I did take the same Academy training you did."

"Yeah," she said, approaching Sakura's door and knocking on it. "But  _I_  passed."

"Hey!"

"Don't hate me for being right," she sang as the door swung open.

* * *

Yamato leaned back in the booth, pouring another cupful of sake.

"You're being unusually moody, if you aren't aware."

"I thought I was  _always_  moody. I need to work on that, to keep up my reputation."

"You know what I mean, senpai."

"I'm sure I don't."

Yamato fixed him with a hard glare, unwilling to relent.

Kakashi dragged at his drink, reluctant to speak. When he reached for the bottle to pour another cupful, Yamato snatched it away from his grasping hand.

"Not until you tell me what the issue is. We have enough to worry about around here without you moping around like some sad old man."

Kakashi gripped the empty porcelain cup in his hands, his pride stung.

That was the issue, wasn't it? That he was a sad old man, who went from a beautiful woman's house to stand and stare at a grave? That couldn't unearth himself from the guilt of his failed squads, shifting leadership of genin teams from his hands time after time? That couldn't admit to himself that he loved someone, because that meant they would leave him, that they would die?

He was old, and if he was honest with himself, probably even starting to lose his edge. His eye was fucked, and every morning his joints popped a little more painfully when he got out of bed. Kakashi carried decades of baggage on his shoulders, in the form of death and regret.

So, so much regret.

The fingers of his right hand twitched.

Hatake Kakashi did not deserve to be happy, did not deserve to be in love with someone so good and so kind. Sakura deserved so much better than what he had to give. Hell, he couldn't even be honest about the fact that he had hypnotized her to sleep, even if only for her own benefit.

These shooting emotional pains dulled around her, when the smell of strawberries and a glowing pink warmth drowned out the pain that lived between his lungs. But here, with nothing but his own thoughts and desperation to keep him company, he broiled in that pain.

"It's a woman, isn't it?" Yamato asked, knowingly.

Kakashi's uncovered eye flicked up, heart beginning to beat a little faster. Yet, there was no change in his lazy, unaffected expression. He reached again for the sake, nabbing it this time before Yamato had a chance to snatch it away.

"What makes you ask that?"

"So that's a yes."

Kakashi could only huff uncomfortably in response.

* * *

Naruto had arranged all of the takeout and snacks Ino had forced him to carry into an appealing spread across Sakura's coffee table, wasting no time in digging in with a magically produced pair of chopsticks. He had even been so kind as to pour wine for the three of them, but as clueless as he was, he had poured it into regular glasses, giving them each way more than could be considered a single serving.

But, Ino thought, as she healed Sakura's swollen hands for her, maybe he was a genius. She  _had_ told him to get Sakura drunk. It was the only way they had a chance in hell of getting her to talk.

There was already a shitty romance film playing on Sakura's tiny TV, Icha Icha characters running noiselessly across the screen. Ino noted gleefully that she was already easily distracted by what was happening in the movie, as if captivated by the  _ridiculously_  crappy plot.

Good, perfect. If she cared about  _that_  bad of a romance, this would be easy.

"I've missed our girl time, Sakura," Ino said with a cheesy sigh, dropping Sakura's now-healed hands and flapping her wrist dramatically.

"Girl time?" Sakura echoed, quirking her eyebrow at Naruto, who was shoveling down food at a mile a minute.

"I can do girl time," he struggled to say around a mouthful of dumplings. He scrunched his eyes and his hands flew in a flurry of symbols. A puff of smoke later and a bright-eyed girl with long blonde ponytails sat in Naruto's place, his bright-orange uniform baggy on the slender frame.

"Naru-chan, present and accounted for." She smiled happily, before going back to slamming food down her gullet. Much cuter, but still definitely Naruto.

"You and Hinata must have a very exciting love life," Sakura said, trying and failing to smother her laughter.

"Oh, you don't even know," girl-Naruto said, grinning.

Ino leaned over to pick up her heavy glass of wine, handing one to Sakura as well. She smiled, seeing Sakura sink half of it back in one gulp. Ino refilled the glass, encouraging, and let Sakura drain half of it again in one go.

Sakura had had a hard few days, after all, and she deserved to let loose. Tsunade had sent her home to relax, and she planned to do just that. Her stomach had settled, and her hands felt fine, good even, and she just wanted to chill out and enjoy an evening with her friends. Even if one of those friends was an idiot like Naruto, she thought, as his female figure popped away in another burst of smoke.

"For someone who acts so lazy and bored all the time, Shikamaru really can get it going when the time comes, if you know what I mean," Ino said, waggling her eyebrows and making Sakura giggle.

"Does he take down the ponytail when he's hitting it, or no?" Sakura asked, trying to cover her smile with her hand.

Ino grinned wickedly, picking up a throw pillow and holding it over her head threateningly.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Haruno? You wanna know what my sex life is like, Little Miss Celibate?" she teased, beginning to beat Sakura's legs with the pillow.

Sakura barely managed to get her glass to safety, shrieking with laughter as she tried to avoid Ino's blows. Naruto pulled the table away from them, guarding the food protectively.

"Hey! I get it when I want it!"

Both Naruto and Ino snapped to attention then, eyes blazing with purpose. Neither of them had drunk much, letting Sakura get tipsy, and now they had their opportunity.

"Oh really, Sakura-chan?" Ino questioned, smile predatory.

* * *

"So, what is she like?"

"Remind me why that's any of your business?" Kakashi asked, sighing. This wasn't how he had expected this afternoon to go; he had planned on sulking in solitude for the day. Per the usual.

"She must be pretty special if she's got you this wrapped up," Yamato said with a shrug. Kakashi acted pretty normal most of the time, if a little sedate and unimpressed with most of the world's goings on. But for the past six months or so, he had been more on edge, more liable to disappear from public gatherings and spending his time isolated. For the last week though, he had oscillated, moving between an uncharacteristic lightness to moods even more dour than usual.

"She's…" he trailed, unable to find the words. The sake was getting to him, keeping him from doing the  _smart_  thing and shutting the hell up. "She's amazing," he said, a picture of Sakura rising in his mind's eye; her hair splayed out behind her as she roused from sleep, a groggy smile in her eyes and lips. "She's too good for me."

"Every woman is too good for you, Hatake. You need a better reason than that to mope."

'You're an asshole."

"I take offense to that."

"I take offense to you drinking my sake," Kakashi replied, looking at their shared bottle pointedly. Yamato rolled his eyes, gesturing a hand in the air to have the bartender bring another round.

"Now you have nothing to complain about."

"Bold of you to assume I don't have more complaints."

"Bold of you to assume I won't make the booth grow arms and trap you here until you talk."

The two of them glared at each other, the silence only interrupted when a fresh round of sake was dropped off at the table.

"Is she cute, at least? You aren't hiding her away because she's ugly or something."

"She's beautiful, thank you very much," he shot back, defensive on Sakura's behalf. He felt compelled to smack Yamato upside the head for the unintentional disrespect. "Watch your mouth, Tenzou."

"So, who is she?" the younger asked, filling their cups again.

"That's definitely none of your business."

"Embarrassed?"

"No," Kakashi said, sighing. He was doing a lot of that tonight. "But she deserves better than me, Tenzou. I'm not going to drag her name through my mud."

"Then why deal with it?"

Kakashi leaned his head back against the suspiciously grimy vinyl of the booth, looking at the ceiling with defeat. Alcohol gushing through his system and kicking his barriers down like kids toys, there was no point in denying it to himself any longer.

"Because I'm a goddamn idiot who fell in love, that's why."

* * *

"Just tell us who's getting your precious goods, Sakura!"

"Ew, Ino, don't say it like that, you pig!"

"C'monnnnn, Sa-ku-raaaaa," Naruto whined from the floor, laying on a pile of pillows. He had jerry-rigged a string of straws so he could sip at his drink while he laid on the floor, too lazy to sit up anymore. Sakura was fighting them, and now they were  _all_ bordering on drunk, bickering back and forth.

"I don't know why this even matters to you so much!"

"Because, Forehead, I'm your best friend and we tell each other everything! I told you every time I had anything juicy going on!"

"Yeah, and now I know way too much about Genma, so you're really not helping your case here."

"Ew, Ino."

"Naruto, you better shut the  _hell_ up or I'll tell Hinata about the time you and-"

"HEY, how about we get back to Sakura, hehe, hehe," he said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"No, I'd really like tp hear more about whatever that's about-" Sakura tried to say, before Ino started poking her and cut her off midsentence.

"If you can't tell us  _who_ he is, can you at least tell us  _how_ he is?" Ino begged, crawling into Sakura's lap. She batted her eyes imploringly. "I need to know about all the good lays in this town, just as back up."

"I'm telling Shikamaru you said that."

"Go ahead, he'll just spend three days thinking about it then take it out on me in bed. I could use a little excitement."

"You're terrible."

"That's why he loves me, I keep his life interesting."

"Difficult, you mean."

"Tomato, tomahto, Forehead. Now tell us what he's like in bed."

Naruto and Ino leered at Sakura with expectancy in their eyes as she picked up her glass, draining it for courage.

"Well, he fucked me on the kitchen table, if that's the kind of thing you want to know."

"SAKURAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

* * *

"…and she's so smart and like,  _reads_ so fast," Kakashi drawled, spinning his cup around as he stared off into space. "And she's so pretty it's stupid. Every time I look at her, I feel like a kid bringing flowers to his school teacher." He decided not to dwell on the ridiculous amount of irony in that particular analogy.

Yamato grinned at the older man, beyond amused at how  _mushy_  Hatake was apparently capable of being, once you got enough liquor into him. The wet ring around his mask around where his mouth should be had grown steadily as he drank.

"And, Tenzou, man, the  _things_ she does with her mouth? I don't know what the old lady was teaching her but damn-"

"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there. I really don't think I want to know what any of that meant."

"Oh believe me, man, you really wish you did, I mean she-"

"Shh, shh, shhh," Yamato said, holding up one finger in front of Kakashi's face and bringing him back to focus. "If you love her, why are you being such so moody about it?"

Kakashi's face fell, what was visible of it anyway. "I told you. She deserves better than me."

"Not that tired old shit again, Kakashi."

"Excuse me?"

"You're a good man, Hatake. You've given your life for this village, literally. There's nothing you wouldn't do for your comrades. Why shouldn't you deserve something nice every once in a while?" he asked, sipping at his drink in resignation.

Kakashi groaned, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

"Can we just go back to how good she is in bed?"

"Yes, fine, we can go back to talking about how good she is in bed."

* * *

Sakura had to admit that she felt relieved when Naruto and Ino finally left, taking the mess in the living room with them under threat of never being allowed back. She loved them to pieces, but they were messy, and they were  _loud_. Not to mention, they had berated her enough to get her to spill some of the spicier details about her recent nightlife, sans any names of course.

She dropped heavily onto the couch, sinking into the pillows, the alcohol coursing through her bloodstream making her giddy and warm.

The air in her apartment felt much too hot, clinging to her flesh like a film. She stripped off her shirt, leaving her chest bare as it rose and fell with each breath.

The two of them had goaded it out of her, gotten her to tell about the ways Kakashi toyed with her body, made her writhe and shake with pleasure. Sakura had gotten carried away, almost dropping too obvious of details, like the mask or the ANBU tattoo. But it was hard to describe to them the delicious ways he made her feel without so clearly picturing Kakashi in crystalline detail; the way his curiously silver eyelashes fluttered against his cheekbones when he shut them, the way his jaw clenched when he dropped to his knees and hitched her thighs apart, the way those surprisingly, tantalizingly pink lips parted to let his tongue lick along-

Sakura moaned, surprising herself. She hadn't realized that she had fallen back into the cushions of the couch, knees spread, one hand slipped beneath the elastic of her underwear. A flush poured its way across her cheeks and down her throat, but she didn't stop.

Sakura's lips parted with a pathetic, breathy sigh, fingers pushing further beneath the cotton fabric of her already-damp underwear. She bit her bottom lip, the stinging pain only heightening her arousal, as she pushed two fingers inside herself, muscles tightening around them and making her nipples tighten.

Sakura's other hand rose to palm at her sensitive breast, the coolness of her fingers making her shiver in the warm air. The fingers between her thighs continued to pump in and out, slick with wetness, thumb beginning to circle her swollen clit. She grit her teeth, breath coming out in short pants as warmth pooled in her gut, tightening her body like a spring.

Sakura conjured an image of Kakashi in his mind, the lines and angles of his jaw and neck, his broad, protective shoulders. Her throat tightened, thumb rolling over and pinching her nipple, as her mental projection came more into focus. She could see the hunger in his eyes, in the way they narrowed to focus on her like she was prey, lips pulled back to bare the pointed canines that drove her  _absolutely fucking crazy._

A rough moan tumbled out of her throat, back arching as she came. Sakura rolled her hips, flexing out the last of the built-up pressure in her thighs with a satisfied sigh. Her neck and shoulders melted, warmth spreading through her body. A happy sigh traveled through the room, and she relaxed into the pillows.

A thought wriggled its way to the front of her brain, sparking an idea she might not otherwise have had. Curiously, she raised her hand, still slick, and brought it to her lips, tracing a wet line across the sensitive flesh of her mouth and across her chin. Slowly, she lapped at the wetness with her tongue.

_Mmm, sweeter than I'd have thought._

Sakura laid there for a few more minutes, sucking lazily on her own fingers, settling into a post-orgasmic haze.

Then there was a short knock on the glass panel that led to the tiny balcony.

* * *

Kakashi had sobered up- at least a little bit. Yamato had all but forced him to drink two cups of coffee, making him lucid enough to walk in a straight line, if still a little loose-lipped. He wanted to slap himself in the face for having said the things he  _did_ say. First of all, he was edging dangerously close to disclosing way too much information for his own safety. Second, what the hell was he  _doing,_ talking about Sakura's skills in the bedroom that way? That was  _his_  business and his alone, to think about when he was safely in private. And now he was having to tamp down the stirrings of arousal in his gut as he walked slowly to her house. Sakura had had an impossibly demanding few days, like hell he was going to walk into her house and try to seduce her. In fact, he considered going home instead but set his mind against it.

He could hold down his baser urges for her sake. Kakashi would much rather spend the night with one arm falling asleep underneath her as she slept than to lay alone. It was worth it to see the glow of her eyes as the morning sun hit them, the way she smiled so brightly and with unabashed enthusiasm when she woke and still found him beside her. It was so unlike anything else in his life.

_That's because you love her, idiot._

He sighed, tilting his head back. He could deal with it for tonight, surely. Kakashi kept pace towards Sakura's house, hands in pockets and humming lightly to himself. He could see the pinkish glow of Sakura's windows up ahead, bright against the night sky. Checking his balance, affected as it was by the earlier sake, he jumped up to her balcony. A flower pot fell off of the edge of the railing, almost tumbling three stories and crashing to the ground below, but he managed to catch it in time. Kakashi slipped off the rail, setting the flowers back in place silently.

Kakashi knocked on the glass panel, hoping she was still awake. It would feel extremely weird to try breaking into his much younger girlfriend's house while drunk.

_Girlfriend?_

He yanked his mask down, desperately sucking in a breath. Well.  _That_  was unexpectedly domicile.

The balcony door slid open with a  _shiiiink,_  spilling light over Kakashi's face.

Sakura had opened the door completely undressed, the toned curves of her breasts and waist lit aglow from the light inside. Her face was flushed, the finer strands around her hairline sticking to beads of sweat across her forehead.

A light gust of wind blew past them, stirring with the air that flowed out of Sakura's apartment. Kakashi's nose twitched unconsciously. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly, deepening the blush on Sakura's face for reasons he didn't know. There, on the breeze, he could smell something, smell  _her._

Kakashi grinned the biggest, most shit-eating grin of his life as he looked down at the naked woman before him. He  _definitely_  smelled what he thought he smelled, taking in the sweat across her skin and the wetness that shone across her thighs and – good lord,  _across her lips._

"I hope you saved some for me," Kakashi said, huskily. "Smells  _delicious_."

Sakura's gut tightened, pure instinct taking over when he bared those stupid fucking canines at her. She reached her fist out of the doorway, yanking him in like a rag doll and slamming it shut. It was a minor miracle that the panel didn't shatter into dust, the glass singing with the force of the blow. As it was, it bounced back open by an inch or two, curtains swaying in the wind.

Kakashi kissed her then, savoring the flavor on her lips, on her tongue. She melted into him, his hands wandering down the bare length of her back and the soft curve of her ass.

"Fun night, I take it?" he teased, as she latched her lips onto his neck, right beneath his chin. Liquid heat spread all the way through to his toes as she unbuckled his vest, pulling it up and over his head.

"Ino and Naruto came over, brought wine, talked too much." She peeled his sweater off next, pleased to find his fishnet shirt underneath it. Sakura plucked at the taut threads appreciatively, liking the way it stretched over his muscles.

"Do I want to know what you talked about?" he asked, as she dropped her hands to play with the edge of his waistband, walking backward to lead him to the couch. She dropped onto the cushions, yanking Kakashi down with her. Drinking had made her bold. He landed on his knees in front of her, letting her spread her legs and rest the backs of her knees over his shoulders.

"Girl talk."

"With Naruto?"

"He's easier to talk to than you'd think."

"Really, now?"

"Are we going to keep talking about Naruto or are you going to –  _oh."_

Sakura threw her head back with a loud sigh. The feeling of Kakashi's tongue, taking broad, wet strokes over her clit made her breath fly out of her lungs.

She opened her eyes, looking down the length of her body to see Kakashi nestled there, between her thighs. His hot, burning eyes flicked to meet hers, forcing a jolt of feeling through her entire body. They locked onto her, following every shiver of her skin and shake of her shoulders, watching her. There was more in them than just lust, there was something deep and warm; looking into her eyes, needy for something that he could only find in those jade green irises. They searched for something deep inside of her that Sakura couldn't name, but felt bubble up out of her, meeting his eyes with that same burning feeling, one hand reaching to trace along the line of his jaw and sink into his hair. They narrowed to hungry slits when she bit her lip, the little pinch sending a zing down her spine. As if in response to the movement, Kakashi pressed two fingers past her entrance, curling them inside her. Sakura almost screamed, clenching her thighs on either side of his skull. She felt the sharp edges of his teeth against her hot and sensitive flesh when he smiled at her cries. Kakashi moved his fingers faster, coaxing moans and wetness from inside of her, lapping both up greedily.

" _Ka-kaka_ shi…, she moaned, needing more, needing it _now._

His hands gripped her hips, pulling her off the couch and onto his lap. Kakashi pushed the table out of the way, making room for their bodies. She rolled her hips down into his crotch, eliciting a rough growl from his throat. It was the animalistic, primal things like that that urged Sakura to grind harder against his tightening cock, desperate for more of him.

Sakura perched herself on her toes, blood running hot. She leaned over to kiss Kakashi, deeply, aching for his lips and his tongue against hers. Her hands reached beneath her to fumble with his waistband, pulling and shoving his pants and boxers out of the way. He lifted his hips ever so slightly, to help her push them past his hips. Sakura smiled into the kiss, amused at his eagerness.

Then she took his hot, throbbing member in her hand, guiding it inside of her, and leaned her weight back onto Kakashi's lap with an echoing moan that made even her eyes water. His hands tightened over her naked hips as she moved, rolling her weight back and forth on her toes. Sakura's eyes rolled back in her head as Kakashi's cock pushed inside of her, slowly, over and over again. Her gut was tightening, ruining her every sense of self as electricity bundled inside of her hips.

Sakura lost her balance, weight falling to her hands on the floor on either side of Kakashi's head. She gasped for breath, sweaty hair dangling in both of their faces.

"Tired already?"

"Hatake, if you don't do me right this minute, I'll kill you."

"My pleasure," he said, grinning at her. His fist wrapped in her hair, pulling her off of his lap and onto her knees. He then threw her, forcefully, so that she landed on her elbows, cheek scraping against the carpet. She mewled for him, wet thighs shivering in the air with her hips held aloft as they were. Sakura could just barely feel the brush of his pants against the backs of her thighs as he positioned himself on his knees behind her, grasping her hair in one hand, her hip with the other. She gulped thickly, her entire body wound tight with want.

Her elbows gave out under her when he pressed the thick length of himself inside of her dripping slit, her cheek against the carpet, fucking her into the floor until she was nothing but an unintelligible mess of moans and demands for more, harder,  _fuck me, baby,_ _please, baby make me come-_ Until her body shook, clenching around Kakashi's cock and forcing a guttural groan from his throat, wetness pulsing from inside of her and down her thighs as she orgasmed. He pounded into her once, twice more, before pulling out and letting her collapse onto the ground, breathing heavy.

Sakura turned onto her back, hand reaching to help him as he finished onto her stomach.

They were both silent, save for the heavy panting of their breath, as their lips connected again. Their teeth knocked together in desperation, needing each other.

* * *

Neither noticed that Sakura's glass door had stayed open a fraction of the way, or that a bird had perched on the railing outside. Neither saw the bird watching them, head tilted, eyes widening with unnaturally human surprise.

* * *

Shikamaru was fiddling with his lighter, leaning against a tree. Ino was across his lap, fully unconscious. He'd complained about what a drag it was to come all the way out here for something so troublesome, but she'd insisted. She needed to find a bird to do the Mind Transfer Jutsu on, and she needed someone to protect her body. By default, that meant him, and eventually, he'd had to relent.

That was how he found himself to be out in the woods, late at night, when he  _could_  be sleeping soundly in his bed. Oh, how it called to him…

Ino began jerking slightly in his lap, the tell-tale sign that she was returning to her body. She came to with a start, jerking upright. Her face, so recently pale and expressionless, was suddenly cherry red, as her hand flew to her mouth with surprise.

"Well, find out anything good?"

Ino could only shake her head back and forth with shock, climbing into his lap and straddling him. Shikamaru's eyes widened with surprise as she ground her hips into his.

"What the hell is this for?"

"Shut up, Shikamaru," she said. Instead of answering, she began to wrestle his vest off over his head. Besides the complete and utter shock at what she had just seen, arousal was coursing through her veins. There was no way she was going to be able to spill the beans to Shikamaru, not without sitting on it first, about something as juicy as  _this._ If she didn't distract him, he'd outsmart her and get her to tell him everything; even Ino could admit that. So, she thought as she pulled her top over her chest and let Shikamaru kiss along the swell of her breast, might as well kill two birds with one stone.

"You don't have to tell me twice," he said, as she captured his lips and pushed her delicate fingers past the elastic of his pants.

 


	12. Her Smile

Kakashi lifted Sakura from the floor, not breaking their kiss. He carried her in his arms, through the living room, and into her bedroom, letting her fall on her back on the mattress with a soft bounce. She blushed heavily as his eyes roved over her body.

"Can you stop that?" she asked shyly, pulling the edge of a blanket over her eyes and blushing face.

"Stop what?" he asked, voice rougher, deeper than Sakura would have expected, even considering the situation.

"Stop staring at me like that, it's embarrassing," she whined from beneath the blanket.

She felt the mattress shift ever so slightly as Kakashi neared her, squeaking when he pulled the blanket out of her hands. Sakura's breath died in her throat as her eyes met his, staring at her with an indescribable force.

"What?" she demanded, something building in her chest. Was it anxiety? She couldn't tell, but she knew that whatever it was he was doing, looking at her with  _that_ in his eyes, was making her blood pound. It rushed in her ears and made her skin prickle. Sakura almost wished he would stop, and just kiss her again. She was just about to start yelling at him when-

"You're just…beautiful. In a way I didn't know something could be," he said. His voice was so low it was barely louder than his breathing, but Sakura heard it. She pushed herself up on the edge of the bed, unable to meet his eyes, but reached out for him, pulling him into an impossibly tight embrace.

"You're being really mushy," Sakura whispered into his shoulder. Her lips brushed teasingly, tantalizingly at his pale skin.

"So I've been told."

"I didn't know you could be this sweet, I like it," she said, leaning back to smile up at him. That breathtaking smile, the one that made his jaw drop and heart race.

"It's the sake, but it's worth it for that smile."

Kakashi leaned down, craning his neck to capture her willing lips with his.

Sakura's eyelids drifted closed, her body relaxing under Kakashi's touch, the feeling of his lips and tongue pulsing through her like a drug. She leaned back into her bed, pulling him down over her by his shoulders. His weight pressed on top of her, and she could feel his hardening cock against her thigh.

Sakura shifted, parting her knees around Kakashi's waist willingly. She laid her hand on his cheek, her thumb tracing affectionately of the dark scar tissue that cut through his face. There was that look in his eyes again, a look so unlike any that had ever been given to her. She couldn't name it, could only feel the rushing of her heart and burning of her eyes in response.

"Kakashi-sensei…" she breathed, one of her hands clutching his.

Their lips melted into each other's as he pushed inside of her. Her moans ghosted across his lips, making his skin shiver with pleasure. Kakashi's heart pounded, more emotion than he could handle coursing through him as he kissed her, kissed the woman he had always yearned for, always hoped to find. Someone he could love, someone he could protect, someone strong and intelligent and loving and… _beautiful_ , he thought, watching her face contort with pleasure and hair fan out over the sheets as he moved inside of her.

Sakura arched her back, lifting her hips in time with his thrusts, pushing him deeper inside of her. She lost herself in the feeling, she moaned and writhed in the sheets, willing him closer as her body shook with delight.

Their bodies moved slowly, languidly, the pleasure between them building with emotional fervor. Sakura's eyes slid open when her orgasm rocked through her body, looking deep into Kakashi's mismatched gaze, his name spilling from her lips like hot honey. He dropped his face into her neck as he came, body shaking, teeth biting almost painfully into the delicate skin of her throat.

There was a content, filling silence as he collapsed beside her in the bed, both of their hearts still racing. Sakura's fingers were tracing lazily over the fine sheen of sweat across his chest. She felt happy, full, safe in her home and in his arms. The sound of cicadas drifted through the house with the warm summer air.

Sakura was beginning to fall asleep when Kakashi spoke.

"What was that?" she asked, ears suddenly perking up.

"Oh, nothing," he tried to say, attempting to brush her off.

"No, I heard that. What did you say?" Sakura pressed. Her eyes were wide, suddenly bright with shock.

"I, ah-" he muttered, staring straight at the ceiling and avoiding Sakura's demanding looks. "I think I  _might_ have said something sort of like 'I love you' but really, who even knows-"

Sakura shot up, her hair sticking up around her head like a rosy crown of thorns. Kakashi couldn't help but be struck by the fine details of her features, how perfect they were in the glow of the moonlight, even as her face blanched with building panic.

"You, you  _love_ me?" she choked out, ears starting to ring. Love? They'd had sex half out of pre-mission jitters for the first time like a week and a half ago, what the hell did he mean,  _love?_ Who would love her, just like that? That made no sense.

"Are you insane?" she asked, staring at him.

Kakashi's face fell, features drawing into a dark expression. He hadn't planned on saying those words out loud, certainly not for her to hear them, but this wasn't the kind of reaction he had would have hoped for. It was, however, the kind of reaction he had been expecting if he was being honest with himself. He didn't deserve the love of someone so pure. He knew better.

"I guess I am," he muttered, pushing himself up and off of the bed. Sakura could only stare at him with her mouth agape as he strode out of her room. She heard him dress, the sound of sandals being kicked on against wooden floorboards, and then his swift exit through the balcony door.

Sakura continued to stare, dumbfounded, at the wall.

Love her? She had tried for years,  _years_ , to get Sasuke to love her. She had given up on that, and  _any_ type of love, long ago. It wasn't in the cards, she had thought. The idea of being loved, of being wanted, felt so foreign she didn't know how to process it. It felt like something that didn't belong to her. And after a  _week_ of sleeping together? Sakura knew Kakashi was a little older but was the man absolutely  _senile_?

But as a cold silence settled around her bare shoulders, chilling her soul and emptying the room of any comfort, the shock drained away. In its place grew her ever-present longing for him.

Without Kakashi, her room just seemed so cold, too big for just her. Maybe the older generation was just a little more serious, a little faster about these types of things. The only love she had ever fostered, after all, was the kind that obsessed over childhood admiration and unrequited desire. One that chased what it could never have when she had run after Sasuke. She had loved him, she knew that, but it had been toxic, and she didn't feel that way now, not anymore.

But did she love Kakashi?

 _No,_ she thought to herself,  _but I could._

Sakura jumped out of bed and grabbed a robe from the hook on her bedroom door, tying it around herself.

_I want to._

Not bothering to put on shoes or even underwear, she opened the glass door and jumped off of her balcony, racing along rooftops to Kakashi's home.

* * *

Sakura didn't bother knocking when she got there, bursting into Kakashi's room with her firsts curled and panting heavily.

He was sitting on the wide windowsill, chin in hand, looking out over the east side of the village. When he turned to her, mask in place, his eyes were dark and full of pain. He avoided looking directly into her eyes, even as she glared at him. The man moved  _fast_ , and she was breathless from trying to follow him here. Her hair was knotted and sticking out in staticky clumps, robe twisted haphazardly around her waist from her running.

Sakura leaned over, hands on her knees, gasping for breath.

"If you ever,  _ever,_ make me chase you again, I  _will_  kill you."

"I wasn't exactly expecting you to follow me, Sakura."

She looked at him again, eyes softening. She approached Kakashi, standing right in front of him and taking his face in her hands.

"You can ask anyone, I'm a little bit of a bitch," she tried to joke, climbing into his lap. By the look in his eyes, she knew it wasn't funny. Sakura edged her finger around Kakashi's mask, pausing for a moment as if to ask permission. Kakashi made a slight movement of his neck, and Sakura pulled it the rest of the way down.

Sakura looked over his features, taking them in. The novelty of it had worn off, and she was no longer so surprised to see his lips, his nose…but he was still beautiful. She knew she was being blessed with an unusual gift, being allowed to see the ridiculously adorable little mark to the side of his mouth. Her thumb stroked over his chin, trying to show Kakashi some of the affection she felt for him.

"I just want you to know that immediately leaving, it's things like that that would make having a real relationship difficult."

"Oh, a  _real_ relationship?" he said, scoffing and rolling his eyes. Sakura huffed, annoyed. Couldn't she get anything right? Couldn't  _he_ give her a break?

"A real relationship, one where two people go on dates and develop feelings for each other over a somewhat more rational period of time, Kakashi-sensei. You came onto me once half a year ago, and then again a few days ago. I'm pretty sure people usually need more time than that to start doing anything like falling in love."

Kakashi took a strand of her hair and twirled it absentmindedly between his fingers.

"I've wanted you, all of you, for longer than that, Sakura."

Sakura's eyebrows rose with the unspoken but obvious question.

"Do you remember the mission we took to the Land of the Snow?"

"What, with the Princess and Dotō?" she asked, thinking back to the few times they had been sent to that frozen hellhole.

"No, not that long ago. The one a couple of years ago."

Sakura rested her head on Kakashi's shoulder as she thought back, trying to remember.

* * *

_The Land of Snow was cold, of course, and snowy, also of course. Sakura hated it, God, she hated it so much. All the extra uniform pieces that helped shield her from the cold didn't do anything for her maneuverability, and the feeling of all that fabric dragging in the wet snow made her want to tear out her eyelashes._

" _Kakashi-sensei, how much further is the trading village? I need a bath and I need it now," she called behind her, turning around to look for her sensei. The man in question was ambling along with absolutely none of the sense of urgency Sakura felt he should have, his one visible eye scanning the lines of his book. The bitingly cold wind whipped at his scarf, but he didn't seem to take any notice. Sakura found herself momentarily jealous of his mask, it would have been much appreciated in this weather._

" _Maybe a mile or so that way," he said, nodding his chin vaguely in the direction they were taking through the hills._

" _And you're sure there's an onsen there?" Sakura asked, not quite believing it. She had a hard time believing that there could be anything approaching hospitably warm in this frozen landscape._

" _Mostly sure."_

" _I hate you."_

" _Duly noted."_

_Sakura bent and scraped together a handful of snow, lobbing it at Kakashi's head. He ducked cleanly out of the way, shooting her a look of betrayal._

" _Well, that was rude."_

_Sakura did not deign to reply, instead sticking her tongue out and blowing a very dignified raspberry in his direction._

" _I'm_ so  _glad to see that adulthood hasn't dulled your childish whimsy."_

" _I'll throw another one, you know I will."_

" _Oh, is that a threat?"_

_Sakura locked eyes with him as she slowly, purposefully bent down to scrape together another pile of snow._

" _Yes, absolutely."_

_The snowball sailed through the air, aimed with more speed and precision than the first. Kakashi just barely managed to dodge it. As it was, it skidded across his cheek and left a frosty patch of ice crystals along the fabric edge of his mask._

" _Oh, so that's how it's going to be, huh?" Kakashi said, just loud enough for her to hear. She shrieked with glee when she saw him dart to the left, gouging his hands through the snowbanks. Sakura leaped into the air, evading the barrage of snow that came flying at the spot where she had just been standing, acting more on instinct than anything else. She flipped backward over herself, landing in the snow on her back with a cushy poof. Sakura was laughing as Kakashi walked up to her, reaching a hand down into the hole Sakura had made in the snowbank to help her to her feet._

" _Good evasion," he said, his hand reaching out._

" _Learned from the best," she replied, smiling._

_As she was about to reach for his outstretched hand, a kunai slammed into the side of his head._

_There was a spurt of blood before there was a puff of smoke. The kunai's inertia sent it tearing through a huge globe of snow, showering it over Sakura's face and body. She bit back a startled scream and started wiggling her way deeper into the snowbank._

_Damn. They had already finished their mission escorting a noble to the daimyo, and without incident too._ Of course _, they_ would _run into trouble_ now,  _when they were finally so close to taking a break. Oh, how she longed for the hot steam of an onsen just then, holding her breath under the weight of a snowbank and listening for something, anything to tell her what was going on up above._

" _Where did he go?"_

" _I'm pretty sure I saw two of them, you saw two, right Kiya?"_

" _Maybe, I'm not sure?" a third, softer voice said. A woman's voice, full of stress and discomfort. She didn't want to be here. That was a plus. It was always helpful to know who the weak link would be. Sakura slowly dug her way up through the snow, careful not to shake it free, and peeked into the open air. She could see four of them, three men and a woman._

" _Yeah, I'm sure I did. That guy and a lady, pretty little bitch too. I'd love to see her face when I get my hands on her-"_

" _And I'm sure she's going to love yours when she gets her hands on you," Kakashi said, cutting off the lecherous comment. He had appeared suddenly behind the man who spoke, holding a kunai to the greasy skin of his gullet._

" _Wha-"_

" _Get him!" another one of the bandits screamed._

" _Sakura!" Kakashi called out, as bodies began to move. The one woman started backing away as the men ran at Kakashi, who had the one still pinned to the ground with a sharp steel point to his throat._

" _SHANNARO!"_

_Sakura burst from the snow with a scream that shook the ice from the tree branches. The men who had been running for Kakashi turned on their heels to stare at her as she flew through the air at them, alarm zinging through their faces. One of them ducked to the ground, covering his head, the other ran straight for her with a drawn katana._

_His mistake._

_Sakura gathered chakra carefully in the soles of her feet in the split seconds that she had, landing right on the blade of the sword. Her speed and her weight sent the sword straight down, crashing the man into the snow right on his face. The steel of the blade crumpled with a tinny squeal under her boots._

_The man tried to move, but Sakura didn't give him the time. She slammed the heel of her foot into his hand, making it crunch audibly. He went limp, and Sakura turned to glance at her sensei, engaged in what was a pitiful excuse for battle._

" _Shouldn't have looked away."_

_Sakura gritted her teeth and screamed as something cut through the back of her knee, dropping her to the ground in a messy heap. The man crawled on top of her, holding a dagger to her throat with a sick smile. Her leg throbbed painfully, nearly taking all of her focus. She just knew he'd at least nicked an artery. It hurt too much to be otherwise. And until she could heal it, she was crippled underneath him._

" _Sakura!" she heard Kakashi yell, along with what sounded suspiciously like hot blood spurting onto snow. "Hold on!"_

_There was no time. The man's body pressed on top of Sakura, cold metal against the skin of her throat, the sickly smell of his sweat and unwashed body reeking through her senses._

" _He's not gonna be able to help you, princess," he said, grinning down at her with mania pulsing in his black eyes._

" _I don't need help, you piece of shit," she growled. Using what little strength that she had left, she crushed her good knee into his crotch with as much force as she could manage, pinned beneath his weight. He howled and leaned away. Sakura advanced in the opening. Her hand shot up to grab his chin, shoving it to the right as hard as she physically could. There was a snap, a crunch, and then all of his weight was on top of her, smothering her in his sweat and making her gag._

" _Good lord, Sakura, you couldn't even throw the body off?"_

_The corpse was dragged off of her, allowing her to sit up and cough. Sakura gasped for breath, spitting into the snow._

" _He nearly cut my leg off, hold on," she said, in too much of a hurry to joke around. Sakura thanked her lucky stars that they were in the snow. The ice had packed into the gash, slowing the blood loss and packing the wound. When she tried to wiggle her toes, they just barely twitched, but the feeling was there. Good._

" _He got my popliteal artery, the one behind the knee."_

" _Sounds bad."_

" _I'd bleed out if I couldn't heal it. And then you'd really be in hot water with Lady Tsunade."_

" _Good thing you're so well equipped then," Kakashi said, rustling her hair. Sakura shook him off, sticking her tongue out at him, and dropped her hands to her swelling knee._

" _So, what do we do about_ them _?" he asked, lowly. Sakura raised her head, following his line of sight to where the two remaining bandits huddled together in fear, the man shielding the woman with his body._

" _That woman has to be pregnant, Kakashi. Look at her stomach," Sakura said, voice just as quiet. "That's got to be the father."_

" _Are you sure?" he asked, picking up on her meaning._

" _They didn't really try to attack us, and with the other two dead these two will just starve. They're not fighters. They're not a danger to us, I know you can see that," she said, finishing up with her leg and reaching for Kakashi's hand. He helped her up, where she balanced tenderly on one leg and held on to his shoulder for support._

" _Hey, hey you two!" she called out, waving her arm at them. The woman flinched, and they began to inch away._

" _No, no! It's okay, I'm sorry, please. I don't want to hurt you if you don't want to hurt me, okay?" she said cautiously, lurching toward them awkwardly through the snow._

_Sakura came up next to them, leaning heavily on her good leg. She raised her hands in submission, showing them that she meant no harm._

" _How far along are you," Sakura asked, gently, leaning over to get closer to their eye level._

" _Twenty-four weeks," she answered, voice tiny and meek. Her accent was thick. Poor thing was a long way from home._

" _Hmm," Sakura hummed, rifling blindly through her medical pouch. She produced a wrapped handful of her medicine pills, thankfully almost tolerable at this point, and a pile of money._

" _I'm not here to go around killing mothers and their children," she said, pressing the items into the woman's confused hands. "These pills will help you with the baby, try them."_

_Sakura then stood, grimacing with the pain that shot through her leg. It would take another round of healing and some good rest before she'd be up to par again._

_She sighed and looked at the male companion with a deadly glare, honed from years of tutelage under the Godaime._

" _Get a goddamn job and stop risking her life. Or I will find you, and I will end the nuisance you are so fast it's disrespectful."_

_The man nodded, hurriedly, desperate to get away from the threat before him. He helped the pregnant woman to her feet, and soon enough their white cloaks disappeared into the tundra._

_When they disappeared, Sakura finally let herself go, knee cracking loudly as she fell. Kakashi, who had stood to the side silently for the interaction, caught her before she could hit the ground._

" _You okay?" Kakashi asked, handing her his bag. She slung it over her shoulders, arranging it next to her own, and let him help her climb onto his shoulders._

" _Yeah, I will be. I just need to give it some time to get back to normal, maybe a day at least."_

" _Does this mean I have to carry you_ all _the way to the village?" he whined._

" _Unfortunately, yes."_

" _Does this mean you're paying for dinner?"_

_Sakura sighed, deeply. Damn if he wasn't exasperating._

" _Yes, I'll pay for dinner, sensei."_

_He flashed her a squinted-eye smile and a goofy peace sign._

" _You're a mess."_

" _Ah, yes," he replied, setting off through the hills again, "but you're stuck with this mess."_

" _Don't remind me," she huffed, blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes._

" _You'd die without me."_

" _And YOU would die without ME! You nearly died on our very first mission, you idiot," she yelled defensively into his ear._

" _That's what's a called give and take relationship, Haruno."_

" _As in I give, and you take my hard-earned money for dinner?_

" _Exactly. That's exactly what I'm talking about."_

" _God, you're the worst."_

_Kakashi only chuckled in response. He carefully readjusted her on his back as he walked, taking care not to hurt her. Sakura was grateful. Her knee still throbbed to an irritating degree._

" _I saw that you gave them money."_

" _Yes, and?"_

" _I'm not angry, Sakura, I'm just curious," he said. Sakura inspected the fluffy silver hair on the back of his head with boredom as she tried to come up with a sensical answer._

" _That woman, Kiya, she just looked too skinny for the size of her stomach. They needed money for food. And if they didn't hurt us, I really don't feel bad for giving it to them."_

" _The other two were definitely trying to hurt us."_

" _And they got what was coming to them, didn't they?"_

" _I can't deny that," Kakashi said, thinking about the two corpses back in the snow._

" _She didn't want to be there," Sakura said, shrugging her shoulders. As far as she was concerned, she had done the right thing. Kakashi agreed._

_That was the first spark._

_They trundled on through the snow, the skyline of the trading village coming into view over the white horizon._

" _I think you scared the shit out the guy, so we're probably fine."_

" _I've got you around, so 'probably fine' is good enough for me," she joked, patting the top of his head._

" _Thanks for your confidence in me."_

" _No problem. Now, onto the hotel. Mush, mush."_

" _I'll drop you, I will legitimately drop you."_

" _Please don't!" she squeaked, clutching at his waist with her knees. "We're almost there!"_

_Kakashi let her down when they reached the gates of the village, letting Sakura hold his arm and lean on him as they traveled through the slightly more manageable roads, not drifted with snow but still mushy and wet._

_They found the hotel, and much to Sakura's delight there_ was  _an onsen. However, almost as soon as she read the sign her face fell dramatically._

" _It's mixed bathing," she whispered, horrified._

_Kakashi shot her a surprised look as he checked in with the attendant._

" _You work in a hospital, and_ this  _makes you uncomfortable?"_

" _I know enough about Jiraiya to have a healthy fear of konyoku onsens, thank you very much," Sakura said with a glare._

" _Okay, okay, I get it," he said, waving his hand at her, "I'm innocent, please don't hurt me."_

" _Yeah, sure you're innocent, Mr. Icha-Icha-sensei," she snarked, flipping her long hair around and stomping in the direction of their room._

_That was the second spark he felt._

_Kakashi followed her down the hall to their shared room, where two futons were already made up. A hotel attendant followed behind them, sliding open the screen door and showing them in. She left behind a soft pile of towels and white yukata for them to wear, if Sakura ever actually agreed to go to the hot spring itself._

_Sakura dropped onto one of the futons, sighing with relief to finally be off of her feet._

" _Oh, sweet, sweet relief."_

" _You can say that again," Kakashi said, squatting next to his futon and putting down most of his things._

" _So, dinner?"_

" _Go ahead and order it, I'll be back later."_

" _You're making me order your dinner and you won't even be here to eat it hot?"_

" _Hey, a deal's a deal," Kakashi said, winking at her and ducking out of the door with the onsen's yukata and a spare mask in hand._

" _Be careful, okay?" she called out after him, settling in to pull off her boots._

_Spark._

_Third time's the charm._

_Now, something was beginning to flicker to life._

_He made his way to the hot spring, somewhere he was pretty confident Sakura would not venture to. Kakashi needed a few minutes, at the least, just to sit alone and think._

_Those sparks, they shook him. He didn't know if he liked what they felt like._

_Kakashi undressed, quickly, making sure no one else was around. Luckily, the hot spring itself seemed deserted at this late hour. There was nobody to see as he peeled out of his grimy, snow-soaked uniform, leaving it to be cleaned by the onsen staff. As he carefully tied a towel over his jaw and slipped into the water, Kakashi's mind retreated back to the room, back to Haruno Sakura._

_At the age of 20, Sakura had survived in this life longer than most had expected. Even Kakashi had had his doubts at first. She hadn't shown a lot of promise at the beginning._

_But over the years, after the trials of the war, after time in a shinobi hospital, Sakura had hardened and matured into a strong, powerful girl. Powerful_ woman.

_Kakashi shook his head and pulled further into the dark, steamy recesses of the spring._

_Letting those two bandits in the snowy hills go, it would be frowned upon, but it wasn't technically against the rules. It assumed a lot of risks. It showed bravery. It showed compassion. Sakura had given the woman aid and money, hoping for them to do better than scrounging for murderer's scraps in midwinter. Most shinobi would not have done that; they would have killed them to tie up every loose end. But Sakura was not like most shinobi. She was better. Stronger. Smarter. But also, softer, with a side to her that she wasn't afraid to show, wearing her heart on her pastel pink sleeve._

_Her warmth and generosity, the kindness she exuded were mesmerizing to Kakashi in a way he hadn't ever been before. He had been thinking about it almost incessantly since it happened, all the way until their arrival._

_Speaking of mesmerized…_

_The second spark had been considerably lower in his chest. What the_ hell  _was that? Who the hell did she think she was? Calling him Icha Icha-sensei? That was too direct of a callback to the second book and it had frozen him to his core, staring at her back (and absolutely_ not _her rear end) as she walked away. She had probably only meant it jokingly, surely, but calling him her make-out teacher was still, well. A lot to take out of the blue from someone like Sakura._

_And what did that even mean, someone like Sakura?_

_It meant someone who was generous, and kind. Someone who Kakashi had grown to trust with his life, through years of working together on missions. Someone who saved his life on several occasions, saving him both a trip to the hospital and time writing a report. Someone who watched the people around her, who cared about them. Who cared, even when someone like Kakashi did something so trivial as go out alone at a hotel. Someone who had become strikingly beautiful, a fact even Kakashi had reluctantly admitted to himself as of late. Someone who lit a maddening third spark in the back of Kakashi's brain in a way he wasn't prepared to confront._

_Someone who was_ fucking  _strolling out of the paneled door of the women's changing rooms and into the clingy fog of the hot spring._

_Kakashi froze in place in the water, hidden by the steam and jutting stones that bordered the spring. His jaw dropped, chin hitting the hot water with a tiny splash._

_Sakura was limping lightly on her still sore and stiff leg, the only reason she had decided it was worth the risk to come to the spring. The tuft of hair tied on the top of her head whipped back and forth as she checked if anyone else was present, eyes slipping past Kakashi without any trace of acknowledgment. She missed him, among the mist and darkness, and dropped her towel to slide into the water, inch by glorious inch as Kakashi watched._

_His eyes widened as the water rippled slowly up the glowing skin of her thigh, her waist, her breasts, reaching the curve of her shoulder and stopping before the few hanging tendrils of rose hair could trail into the water. Kakashi was frozen, silent, as something clicked into place deep in the base of his brain. His heart was pounding in his ears as he watched Sakura float lazily through the spring, chest rising and falling in the sparkling water._

_Why were his instincts screaming at him, telling him to take her in his arms and kiss her?_

_The minutes seemed to pass like hours as Sakura glided around in the water, by the grace of God never coming close to where Kakashi hid in the shadows._

_Kakashi's throat went painfully dry when she finally climbed back out of the spring, her muscles gleaming with water in the moonlight. He mentally tore out his own throat for the way he stared at her breasts as she wrapped herself in her towel and walked back into the building._

_He finally remembered how to breathe as the door slid shut behind Sakura._

_When he made it back to their shared room half an hour later, dressed in the yukata and mask, Sakura was dressed in the like, lounging over her futon and reading a book. When she looked up to him, greeting him with a blinding smile and those beautifully green eyes, Kakashi felt the heat that crawled up his neck and behind his mask. Another perk of the mask: hiding inopportune blushes. He wasn't prepared the way his gut reacted to such a sweet smile just for him walking through the doorway, for the gut instinct to wrap his arms around her and just_ kiss her.

" _I saved your dinner, Kakashi-sensei."_

" _Thanks, Sakura."_

* * *

"I actually hadn't read them yet, not by then," Sakura said, still a little too stunned to react to anything else.

Kakashi actually choked a little, earning a concerned look from Sakura.

"What?"

"You've… _read Icha Icha?!"_

"I mean, yes?"

"I don't even know how to respond to that."

"You read them in public!"

"We've long since established that fact, this is new information."

"If you want to talk about new information, let's revisit this little onsen thing, please?"

"Yeah, I know," he said, avoiding eye contact.

"You fell in love with me  _three years ago_?"

"I started feeling  _things_  around then, yes."

"And?"

"And then I spent a long time trying to repress those feelings, but honestly Sakura, you walk around with power in your stride that makes it impossible to look away," Kakashi said, nuzzling into her neck to hide the blush on his face.

"I walk normally."

"No, you walk like you know how strong you are."

Sakura blushed, pulling on Kakashi's chin so she could kiss him, her lips landing just on the corner of his.

"That's very sweet of you."

There was a moment of silence as their lips met again in the dark.

"I fell in love with you that night you fell asleep at the table."

"The day I made cookies?" Sakura asked. He nodded. "Why?"

"You're very disarming when you're asleep."

"I don't even know what that's supposed to mean."

Kakashi shrugged, readjusting her to sit more comfortably in his lap.

"I couldn't explain it if I tried."

Sakura leaned her head into his chest and felt his nose nuzzling into her hair.

"At least I can rest easy knowing you aren't  _completely_  insane. Just partially."

"Thanks, very comforting to hear."

Sakura rolled her eyes. She slid out of his lap and hit the ground on her feet. She turned to look him in the eyes, taking one of his hands in both of hers.

"You've had feelings for three years, I don't blame you for having deeper feelings than I do."

Kakashi's eyes flicked down, away from hers. Sakura took his chin and pushed his gaze back up to hers.

"But that doesn't mean I won't develop those feelings, you cynical old dog. I really,  _really_ like you, Hatake Kakashi, and I'm not going to let you run away," she said, voice carrying a thick air of finality. She leaned forward, kissing him, leaning her weight into him, telling him that she meant this with all of her being.

Sakura pulled away, smiling at him. This time, she caught the blush that stained his cheeks. Her smile only grew brighter, and she had to lean forward to kiss each of those red cheekbones.


	13. Ichiro

Bark scratched at his back through the fabric of his cloak, but Sasuke neither opened his eyes nor moved into a more comfortable position. He sat in the relative silence of the forest, his chin tipped up to the dappled sunlight finding its way through the ceiling of leaves.

"Mrrow."

Reluctant to be bothered, Sasuke cracked open one eye to look exasperatedly at tabby cat that had dropped from some overhead branch and next to his lap. Bright orange fur almost glowed in the sunlight.

Typical.

"I wouldn't expect to see someone like you so far out," he muttered to himself, scratching at the animal's furry chin. Purring, it crawled into his lap.

"Mrrrrrrow."

Sasuke was miles upon miles away from the nearest village, even the tiniest of them. At the edge of these woods was a salty, rocky coast. This was the last green area until the Land of Water dissolved completely into saltwater and islands. After two days circling through the area surrounding the Blood Seal, he had still yet to run into those Blood-nin he knew had to have survived the cave-in.

That was worrisome. There were two possibilities with the situation. One, they were gone, and Sasuke could be unable to find them in time to salvage his place among them. There would be no buffer between them and the Village. His mission would be a failure. Sasuke didn't even fucking like Konoha, as vile and corrupt as it ran. But he cared about Naruto, he cared about Sakura, as much as it pained him to admit, and if they believed that things were changing for the better, then he would trust them. That's what healthy, well-adjusted people did, right? Trust each other?

Sasuke sighed heavily and leaned his head back against the tree. His nose wrinkled with distaste as he felt bits of the bark break and tangle into his hair.

The second possibility was comparably worse. The possibility of the Blood-nin still being in the area, aware of him, and lying in wait for him to stumble into their trap was very real. Sasuke didn't believe that any of them had seen him escape with Sakura, but if they had…things would not turn out well in his favor. They would turn out with his blood pouring into the crevices of the Blood Seal as punishment for treason.

He could honestly disappear. Just melt into the shadows between the trees here in the Land of Water, never to be seen again. He could pick up the cat in his lap and take off to be a mountain hermit completely unbothered by the past, by revenge or guilt or responsibility.

But no. Not yet. He still had a debt to repay to the people he had hurt.

The cat let out an annoyed mewl as Sasuke pushed it out of his lap, gently at least. He stood and brushed the away the fur that clung to his clothes, watching the shimmering orange hairs float to the ground with a forlorn look in his eyes.

Adjusting the fastenings of the cloak around his neck, Sasuke set back off in his search.

* * *

_Smoke rolled through the hallways, rice paper screens and thin frames of wood burning into floating white ash._

_Every breath was hot and painful as Ichiro choked them down, running through the halls. Screams echoed around him, drilling into his brain, into his heart._

_People – his people – were dying all around him. Flames raged to suffocate them and burn their bodies into unrecognizable corpses._

_An ungodly roar echoed across the island, the force tearing through a wall of screen doors and blasting them into Ichiro's side. Wood slammed into his ribs and neck, throwing him to the floor and gouging into the flesh of his face and neck. His ears rang loudly, vision blind with fog after his skull slammed into the floor._

_Ichiro scrabbled desperately, pulling the burning debris off of him until he could pull himself up to stand._

_The destroyed wall opened into a vision of hell._

_Every building on the island was burning, the oil lamps that lit the small roads of the Ketsu clan's sprawling estate spilling and ushering in devastation. An eerily dry, choking mist swirled in with the smoke. It curled visibly in the air as people cut through it, screaming and running, some alight with fire, some clawing out their own eyes and rushing blindly over the edge of the island. Ichiro leaned over to vomit as he saw people tumbling over the side of the bluffs, falling to an unavoidable death on the sharp rocks that jutted like poles from the water below. Several small houses caved in on themselves, cries of pain and horror squealing from beneath the burning rafters._

" _CHI!" he screamed, fear clawing its way up through his throat. "CHUYA!"_

_Another roar slammed through the air, more walls buckling from the force. Ichiro lurched forward, running as fast as he could towards the sounds of cracking stone, shockwaves ricocheting through the island floor and up his shins. Ichiro pressed on._

" _CHI!" he called again, searching for his sister. He had to find her. There was no hope left, nothing left to be done. Their only hope was to escape with their lives. "CHUYA!"_

_A high screech pierced through the mist, echoed by the same ungodly roar as before. A burst of flaring red light funneled into the sky, just visible behind the Great House, backlighting the home of the main Family as it burned into oblivion. Ichiro's jaw dropped as he ran towards it, watching the house he grew up with become nothing more than charred foundations._

_He rounded behind the shell of the house, to where the highest cliff of the island peaked._

_Ichiro had spent many nights on this cliff, sitting with his sister and his niece, Chuya, as the sun set over the salty ocean and ringed the sky with beautiful shades of purple and orange and_ red _, as if the sun bled for them as it said goodbye. That was story Chi told Chuya each night as the sun sank below the waters of the horizon; The Sun, sorry to leave us, pricks her finger and signs her name across the sky, swearing in blood that she is not abandoning us, only leaving for a little while to rest. Swearing in blood so we know she loves us with all of her heart._

_Now the sky was blacker than death itself. The only red was the light that burned across the cliffs. It almost blinded Ichiro when he came upon it. When he squinted against the brightness, his body almost gave out completely._

_Chi stood atop a pillar of stone that had been wrenched into the air, evidence of her jutsu trying to attack its target. Her skin was alight with a violent red glow, hair whipping in the savage wind. The ivory jūnihitoe she wore was blown in every direction, silk ties flying away and open robes flapping wildly. Her mouth opened impossibly wide, another scream tearing its way through the air and her chakra surging like invisible waves, walls of solid force slamming into their target._

_More pillars jutted out of the stony ground around Chi, more attempts to hit her attacker._

_It was what ran across them, jumping from one surface to the next with deadly agility and tremendous force that terrified him the most, a burning red and black figure that oozed blood under and out of the shell of chakra that clung to its skin. Disfigured lumps of coral seemed to grow out its back and fall to the ground below, cracking open to release noxious fumes. Three bubbling tails of chakra wriggled from its back, striking fear into Ichiro's heart._

_It was true. The Bloody Mist had come for a jinchūriki host. They couldn't be satisfied with the power they already had. They wanted more, to control more. They had brought disaster. This meant the worst._

_The Three Tails beast slammed into Chi, throwing her into the air. The woman crashed onto another pillar of stone, falling at least ten feet onto her back. Her cry of pain rang hauntingly in Ichiro's ears, even above the chaos that blanketed the entire island._

_Chi forced herself to her feet as Ichiro watched. He came as close as he dared, katana ready to do whatever he could. But it would not be needed._

_The Three Tails leapt high, falling in a deathly dive toward Chi's waiting silhouette. Chi squared her shoulders, as if preparing herself for a game of shogi. Her eyes slid shut as she raised her hands above her head in a flurry of hand signs._

" _Blood Release: Bloodletting Jutsu!"_

_A sliver of Chi's chakra, so dense and sharp it was a solid red mass slicing through the air, hit the Three Tails full in the chest. The raging black and orange jinchūriki chakra exploded against the bloody red of Chi's, shaking the air and the earth so harshly that the edges of cliff began to crumble into the waters beneath._

_Blood, streaming with the glow of human chakra, spurted across chi's face and white silk robes. The fading light of the Three Tails crashed into her, the force of the collision between their bodies forcing her over the side of the rock she stood on. The two of them crashed into the ground, rolling over into the distance. Without the monster's screams, the fog across the island seeping away into a blanket of chilling silence. The only sounds left were crashing ceilings and the faint cries of dying villagers._

_Ichiro ran towards his sister, weapon still drawn and at the ready._

" _Chi! CHI!" he yelled, rushing to her side. The splayed silks of her robes fanned around her, still covering the body she held in her arms._

_Chi was crying, tears cutting clean streaks through the blood and dirt that coated her face. Tangled white hair, blotched with pinkish blood, hung over her face like a horrific veil as she crouched over the figure she held._

" _Chi, we need to go, please," Ichiro begged._

" _I will not leave here," she groaned, voice hoarse._

" _What the hell are you talking about? We need to find Chuya and leave, the Mist-nin will kill us all-"_

_Chi sat up, pulling her hair and silks out of the way for Ichiro to see the corpse that was leaking blood onto her clothing. His throat closed, and he fell to his knees as all of the life fled his body._

_A skinny, lanky girl was curled in his sister's lap. She was a horrifying sight. Almost no skin or clothing remained, all but completely burned away by the intense chakra of the Three Tails cloak. The ribcage was a mangled, eviscerated hole where Chi's Bloodletting Jutsu had landed, draining the small girl of her blood and her chakra. Fractured bone was visible, jutting from the mounds of bloody, twisted flesh. Even her heart peeked out from beneath the pit of viscera, still twitching erratically even in death. The only identifiable thing left was the long braid, decorated with rubies, as pure white as her mother's._

" _I am already dead," Chi said, her voice a low, empty moan as she stared into her daughter's lifeless eyes._

" _She was only six…why…," Ichiro sputtered, his mind in shambles. His niece, the little girl he loved, who he had taught to swim…Had destroyed their entire island. Had killed their entire clan._

_Had died at her own mother's hands._

_Ichiro leaned over and threw up again when Chuya's tiny body slumped more heavily to the ground, the smell of her burnt flesh clogging in his nose._

* * *

Sasuke was running across a flat expanse of water when he first sensed them. He heard the slapping of sandals against water first, then felt their chakra streams, ringing at the same frequency as his. Even with the mist that clouded any sign of their bodies, their chakra signals were like homing beacons in the dark.

"Hello, my sweet Sasuke," came a small voice, slithering softly out of the fog.

"Don't call me that."

"Apologies, my friend," Saya said, emerging from the mist with a large bundle on her back. Even in the dimness, her red hair seemed to glow. "It is just so very relieving to have found you, we believed all of our brothers and sisters had died."

"It would take more than some girl to kill me."

"Too bad, I could've lived without your attitude," said Manami as she walked up beside Saya, her braid trailing under the water as she strode across its surface. Her Blood headband gleamed in the moonlight, the gouge that signified every Blood-nin's sacrifice to the Village seeming even deeper and more foreboding in the lilting shadows. "A disgrace that you survived when Akio didn't," she said, spitting the words at Sasuke's feet. Distaste blazed in her eyes.

"I would have much preferred Mamiko over you, but we're all suffering, I'm sure," Sasuke shot back, eyes narrowing as his hand moved threateningly to the hilt of his sword. Manami bared her teeth and leaned forward, cracking her knuckles with anticipation.

"Sister, brother, do not fight," Saya interjected, trying to edge her small form between them.

"With her, it wouldn't even  _be_ a fight," Sasuke said, smirking at Manami as her eyes lit with anger.

"Enough," Saya said, flipping the wrapped bundle over her shoulder. It hit the surface of the water with a loud slap, her threads of chakra that seared through the bundle keeping it from sinking below the surface. Manami straightened up instantly, backing away from Saya with caution tying her muscles tight. Sasuke eyed the bundle hesitantly. It was surely a puppet, but none of them had ever  _scared_ Manami before. He wanted to use the Sharingan to see what it was beneath the bandages, but he couldn't risk it. The two women would notice and would question why he felt the need to pry instead of asking. His curiosity would have to wait for satisfaction.

"We are all suffering. We have all felt a great loss in these last days. We must be grateful for those who are still with us," Saya said coldly, shaking the wrapped puppet threateningly. Sasuke saw Manami stare at the bundle, appearing to be biting back her own bile, before turning away sharply.

"We take him back," Manami seethed, forcing the words from between her clenched teeth. She then disappeared into the mist.

Saya gestured expectantly for Sasuke to follow Manami's swirling trail through the fog as she hefted the puppet back onto her shoulder.

" _He_ survived, you know," Saya said, falling into step beside Sasuke. He didn't hate her the way he did Manami, but he didn't exactly enjoy her presence, packed in so tightly against him inside of the cloaking fog. "Things have changed since that girl destroyed us. He will want to explain them to you himself, but understand, Uchiha," she said, voice slipping into a chilling monotone, "If you do not like what you hear, you will only be one more dead brother among many."

* * *

The three of them traveled a fair distance, crossing lakes and islands until they approached a small island littered with saplings. Within the copse of trees, a lone figure in a watery grey cloak sat facing away from them, their form backlit by a small fire glowing in the darkness. Sasuke steeled himself.

Even after several years, Ichiro Ketsu made him acutely uncomfortable.

Manami and Saya approached the man easily, taking their places around the fire. Saya propped her puppet against the trunk of a nearby tree as she sat, careful to keep it safely upright. Sasuke followed them, taking a seat directly across the fire from Ichiro.

The fire lit their black eyes as they met.

"Sasuke."

"Ichiro."

"We've been looking for you these last few days. We thought you might have died."

"So I was told."

"I'm relieved you survived, I need you for what's to come," the older man said. He pulled down his hood, firelight spilling over his face. His long, black hair was scraped back into a high ponytail, putting his scars on gruesome display.

Mangled, gnarly flesh knotted along his cheek, trailing from his hairline and down the side of his head where his ear should have been and down his neck. Even after a two decades, the scar was an angry red that twisted Ichiro's face into a permanent scowl of pain.

"You abandoned the Leaf Village as a child, did you not?" he asked, looking deep into Sasuke's eyes. Searching for the faintest trace of deception.

"When I was like 12, yes."

There was a moment of silence as Ichiro looked into the flames, apparently satisfied with Sasuke's answer. He thanked God for the years he had spent building trust in that dank underground cave.

"Did you recognize that pink-haired girl? What was her name, Saya?"

"You speak of the sweet one, Iho."

"Yes, Iho. She looked young, but maybe you knew of her before you left your village?"

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat in fear, but his face kept its nonplussed expression.

"No? I thought she was from Iwa, not Konoha."

"That's what the lying bitch told us when we found her," Manami spat, breaking her silence. She glowered into the fire, but her lips curled into a dangerous smile as she spoke. "But Saya found her out, didn't you?"

"There was a slip of paper in her clothing when I was cleaning it for her. It is too bad, had she been honest, she would have been so wonderful…"

"What did you find?" Sasuke asked, trying to sound as unaffected and disinterested as he could.

"She left the receipt for her dinner in her pocket. She lied. Iho, Iwa, whatever her name was, she came here from the Leaf," Manami all but yelled, her anger boiling out of her.

 _They're all fucking idiots aren't they,_  Sasuke thought to himself, mentally slapping both Naruto and Sakura upside the head. Absolute airheads, all of them.

"I lost one village to the Mist," Ichiro said somberly. "And now I have lost one to the Leaf. I will not lose another."


	14. Battle Tactics, Part Two

The next morning, Kakashi woke with a hangover. Sakura, however, was already awake and reading by the lamplight, perched in the chair at his desk. She had kindly taken the steps to close the curtains and shield him from the glare of the daylight sun.

"I can't believe you're actually reading that," he said, burying his face back under the blanket.

"What, this?" Sakura asked, flipping over the book to look innocently at the neon green cover. "It's much better than trying to read any of these unfinished mission reports you've never bothered to turn in," she teased, sliding off of the chair and crawling onto the bed beside Kakashi.

He grimaced when she pulled the covers away from his face, flinching away from the light.

"Are you okay?"

"M' eye hurts," he grumbled near-unintelligibly into the pillowcase. Between the ever-constant strain of his eye and the hangover that pulsed through his forehead, he basically felt like he was dying. He had to assume this was death. That was all that could explain the pounding in his skull.

"You're not dying, you drama queen."

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" Kakashi asked as Sakura pulled at his eyelids and peered into his eye.

"You're whining especially loudly this morning, yes."

"You seem just peachy."

"It's the springtime of my youth, I can still squeak by without getting a hangover."

"This isn't a hangover, Sakura, this is death."

"If you bothered to stay hydrated you might not have these problems."

"Has anyone ever told you how great your bedside manner is?"

"Constantly."

Sakura pressed gently on the sides of his eyes. Taking a deep breath and willing away the prickling feeling of distress in the soles of her feet, she roused a trickle of humming green chakra in her fingertips and let it spiral through the surface of his eyeball and through the pupil. A few moments of silence passed as she depressurized the vitreous humor and cooled the throbbing sclera, helping to abate his headache as much as she could. Every pulse of Sakura's healing chakra through her fingertips was ratcheting her anxiety through the roof, stopping her from helping as much as she knew she should have. The thread of chakra was weak, shaky, and she had to force it to do its work.

"Did you use this, after I expressly asked you not to?" she asked, squinting her eyes at him accusingly. Sakura had hoped Kakashi would actually avoid using his Sharingan in missions after she had told him to.

Kakashi neglected to answer, mouth only twisting in response.

"Was it at least for something good? Did you kick someone's ass? Cause a small-scale natural disaster?" she teased, trying to lighten the air.

"No, not exactly."

"Well, what then? I really do need to know, for diagnostic purposes."

"I…might have helped you go to sleep the other night."

"You did what?" Sakura asked, her voice shooting up an octave midsentence.

"You were having a panic attack."

"I…I don't remember that?" Sakura stammered as her chakra withdrew from Kakashi's eyeball. She hadn't helped nearly as much as she had wanted to, but she couldn't manage much more.

"Well, you wouldn't," he said guiltily, tapping on his scarred browbone. Sakura stared at him slack-jawed for a few seconds.

"You really shouldn't have done that, Kakashi," she said with a sigh. Sakura's thoughts tumbled over themselves. Part of her felt grateful, maybe even flattered, that he had done something that he knew would hurt himself just for her benefit; but part of her felt almost…violated. Sakura couldn't even remember any of this happening. She remembered being exhausted and upset about Moriki-san, remembered Kakashi coming in through her window in his rain-soaked cloak and giving her a blanket, and then…nothing. Just blankness, not even a dream, until she had woken the next morning. Her stomach twisted just trying to put the night's events back into place.

Sakura watched Kakashi's already strained face fall even more at her words. She sighed again, laying down to rest her head on his chest.

"It means a lot that you care, Kakashi-sensei, but you can't do that to me. Avoiding things has never helped me before, and it probably won't now. And you can't go around using your Sharingan for things so insignificant, it's a waste."

Kakashi grunted, a noise between understanding and apology. Guilt was pulsing through his brain along with the headache. He felt like he deserved this. The "consequences" he had known were coming had taken a little longer than he expected, but here they were. And so soon after he had fucked up, made her uncomfortable by telling her he loved her. Damn it.

Kakashi rubbed his hand over his eyes with irritation. He had  _no_ idea about how the hell relationships were supposed to work. He had no real experience with this, what the hell was he supposed to know about any of these things? He was trying his best, but there was a truth behind all of this, and he knew it: Kakashi doesn't deserve this happiness. He was playing with borrowed time.

"It's not insignificant if it's for you."

Sakura shifted, propping her chin on Kakashi's chest to look him in his slightly-bloodshot and hungover eyes. Even as tired as they were, they begged for her to understand.

"What did I ever do to deserve someone like you?" Sakura murmured, reaching her hand to his face and tracing her thumb lightly over his bottom lip. The two of them sat there in silence for a moment, just looking at each other.

"I can only assume something horrible," Kakashi said, jokingly, finally breaking the silence. Sakura rolled her eyes at him, leaning forward to plant a kiss on his lips before she stood.

"Yes, I've killed thousands," she said as she got up, ignoring her own internal wince at the joke.  _Too soon._

"Um, Kakashi?" she muttered with embarrassment as he stood up behind her.

"What is it?"

"I don't have any clothes."

* * *

"This feels obvious."

"Your other choice was to walk home in a robe, so I'd be happy with what you've got."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Sakura muttered, cutting at the neck of her borrowed shirt with a kunai. Kakashi had dug through a shocking amount of clothes in the back of his closet ( _Have you not thrown out anything, like, ever?)_ to find an old uniform that fit her small frame, more or less. Luckily, besides the extra fabric that made up the mask, all of his uniform pieces looked mostly like standard Konoha-issue garb. But between the ripped neck and just how  _vintage_  it was, Sakura felt like she was very clearly wearing clothes that were  _not_ hers. The best she could do to make it less obvious was rip the mask off of the collar, but she still kind of felt like she was wearing a neon sign.

"At least we know you'd look good as ANBU."

"I would  _never_ be part of that shitshow."

"That face is too pretty to hide behind a mask anyway," Kakashi replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

Sakura blushed and rolled her eyes.

"That's rich, coming from you."

"Nobody wants to see this old thing," he joked, pulling the fabric in place over his nose.

"I can say, for an absolute fact, that at least half the female population of the Village wants to see 'this old thing'," she said, pulling in close and planting a small kiss on the underside of his jaw.

"No comment."

"Mmhmm, smart move Hatake," she said with a deadly grin as she stepped away from him and looked in the tiny mirror that hung on the closet door.

Kakashi looked over Sakura as she yanked her fingers through her hair, trying to wrangle out at least some of the knots.

She looked unbearably cute in the mismatched pieces of an old ANBU uniform, the only thing he had that was small enough for her frame but still big enough for her to get her hips into. He couldn't help but eye her hips,  _in an absolutely not creepy way,_ he thought to himself. Sakura gave up on untangling her hair, and bent over to rummage through his desk drawers for something or other, he didn't really care. Kakashi's eyes trailed down her thighs and legs, to-

"Do you not have shoes?"

"I…uh…shit." Sakura straightened up and whirled around, jabbing a senbon through the wrapped-up knot of hair at the top of her head.

* * *

"I look ridiculous."

"You should have put on shoes."

"I don't need more blame right now."

"That's fine, but you still look ridiculous."

"I hate you  _so_ much."

"Being hated doesn't hurt so much when you have shoes on."

Sakura kicked him with her sort-of bare foot, leaving a dusty footprint on the side of his pant leg. The bandages wrapped around her feet, toes, and ankles were picking up dust and dirt as they walked through the streets, and it was just the worst. Her feet were used to the rub and pinch of solid sandals, not the sharp jab of pebbles to the soles of her feet.

"You are so lucky I like you, or I would kick your ass right here right now."

"I am very lucky," he said, leaning down and dropping a kiss on her cheek so quickly that no one could have seen it, but Sakura felt it. A blush rose in her cheeks and she smiled at the ground as she walked along.

"Where are we going?" she asked, as they neared the trails to the training grounds.

"Well, you said you needed to train again, so I took it upon myself to set something up."

"Oh god."

"You don't have to sound so excited about it."

"You're the only person that even approaches being as brutal as Tsunade."

"That sounds like a good thing, if we're being honest."

"Maybe if I had  _shoes_  to wear!"

"Now you're just whining to whine."

"You are sleeping alone for the rest of your life."

"That's fine, I've had plenty of practice over the years."

"Good. I'll finally have time to watch the new Icha Icha movie. The guy who plays Itsuki is  _so_ ridiculously fine, you can't imagine the things I'd let him do to me-"

In a flash, Kakashi had her pinned against a tree. His mask was down, his breath and lips ghosting delicately over the sensitive skin of her own. Her heart began to beat faster when he spoke.

"And just what would you let  _him_ do to you, Sakura?" he asked, before capturing her lips in a hot kiss that nipped at the inside of her lips. One of his hands spread greedily over her hip and stomach, a couple of his fingers pushing underneath the edge of her pants, tracing tantalizingly low on her stomach. The edge of his nail brushed ever so slightly against the deliciously curled hair down there, teasing her, teasing  _himself_.

Too soon, he pulled away, leaving Sakura breathless with the rough bark of the tree scraping into her shoulders.

"You are absolutely and inarguably the worst fucking person alive, Kakashi," she said, gasping for air.

"That's not what you were saying in your apartment last night," he shot back, smiling dangerously as his mask returned to its place on his nose.

"Oh, you're gonna get it now, Hatake," she yelled, launching herself at him. He tore off into the trees, dodging her just in time to avoid her outstretched hands.

"Gotta be quicker than that,  _Haruno,"_ Kakashi said, eyes crinkling in that warm semblance of a smiled that Sakura was growing so deeply fond of.

"You want faster? I'll give you faster!" Sakura yelled after him, laughing as the tore through the forest and ran along the branches deep into the training grounds.

* * *

Sakura managed to snag him by the ankle just as they hit the edge of a training field. Catching him mid-leap, they both dropped through the air and landed in a rough, ugly heap that rolled through the grass. Sakura was cackling maniacally, cheering for herself.

"I GOT YOU! CAN'T BEAT ME! Haruno Sakura, bringing nothing but victory after unchallenged victory!"

"I wouldn't call them unchallenged," Kakashi said, panting and rising to his feet.

"Oh, really? Because I'm barefoot and I still caught your ass and took you down, sounds pretty unchallenged to me," Sakura taunted, taking his outstretched hand to stand.

"Barely. You  _barely_ caught me."

"Yes, Sakura! Celebrate your victory!" came a loud cry from the middle of the clearing. Sakura brushed dirt from her knees and turned to see Lee hopping around excitedly in the grass. Kiba was laid out on the grass at his feet, Akamaru beside him chewing lazily on grass.

"Lee! Hi!" Sakura called out to him, waving her arm dramatically over her head. "What's this?" she asked, looking at Kakashi questioningly.

"You said you needed to train, so I set something up."

"Why Lee and Kiba?"

"Believe it or not, Naruto was actually busy with Tsunade. And if you need to get used to more physical strain, these are the best to push you."

"Are you trying to punish me for something? Are you trying to kill me?"

"I'd never do something like that to you," he said. Sakura didn't even have to look at him to know he was smiling beneath that damn mask.

Sakura rolled her eyes and walked across the grass, a relief to feel beneath the soles of her feet. When she was close, Akamaru jumped to his feet and promptly tried to tackle her, slobbering tongue all over her face. Sakura braced herself against the ground, her heels digging into the soil as she took Akamaru's weight without falling.

"Hey, Akamaru! Aren't you so big and so handsome?" she cooed, picking him up and pushing him over onto his back so she could scratch at his shaggy chest. Kiba grinned hugely seeing Sakura throw the huge dog around like a puppy. "Who's a good boy, is it you? It's you, you're a good boy!"

"He's gonna think he's a lap dog if you keep that up," Kiba said, coming to crouch on Akamaru's other side and join Sakura in rubbing his belly.

"Any dog is a lap dog if you believe hard enough."

"Anything is possible when you believe hard enough," Lee said, leaning down to scratch affectionately behind Akamaru's ear.

"Never change, Lee," Sakura said, looking up at him with a soft smile. His face turned a bright pink instantly.

"Never! I will carry my passion inside forever!" he yelled even louder than usual, stammering bashfully through the words. Sakura tried to cover her snort of laughter by burying her face in Akamaru's fur, but Kiba definitely caught it and started laugh in earnest. Sakura burst into giggles, Lee quickly following suit.

Kakashi walked up to them, book already open in hand.

"Still fooling around, or are you ready to get started? The sun will go down eventually, you know."

Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "As if you have anything better to do."

"Why, Sakura, I'm hurt."

"You've set me up to spar with these two," she said, pointing at Kiba and Lee who looked at her with faux-innocent eyes, "and you're complaining that  _you're_ hurt?"

"It's payback for all of your snide remarks."

"Oh, they're about to get a  _lot_  snider, sensei."

"Then next time you're sparring with Gai himself."

Sakura's jaw dropped in shock at the threat. Gai? He'd kill her with a heat-stroke after ten minutes. There was a  _reason_ every ninja in a 500 mile radius was scared shitless of Tenten and Lee.

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, but I would."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, mentally cursing him and promising herself that she was never paying for his dinner again. She sighed and pushed herself up to stand.

"Okay, fine. I'm ready, let's get started."

Kakashi stepped away, tipping his head towards Lee. Kiba pulled Akamaru out of the way, following Kakashi to sit at the edge of the clearing, probably to talk about what shampoo they used on their dogs or something like that. A smart idea too, considering the kind of damage they could expect from Lee and Sakura. Lee bent to fiddle beneath his leg warmers, pulling out and holding up those goddamn leg weights. Sakura's eyes squinted with determination, refusing to be intimidated even as they crashed into the ground, making a nice-sized pit each.

Lee moved his leg back, bracing himself for a fight. Sakura did the same, leaning forward and tight to the ground, her knuckles cracking ominously in the sudden silence that filled the clearing. Lee's hand rose, as if to urge her to act.

"Ready, Sakura-chan?"

"Ready, Lee."

His knees bent, muscles preparing to move. His hand flexed, fingers beckoning her forward. Sakura's lips twisted into a wry grin. Her calves tightened, body coiling with intention. A slight breeze of wind blew a leaf between them, a green speck dancing over itself in the air.

And then Sakura shot forward.

Lee dodged, swinging away from her advancing attack on his back foot. Sakura fell into a crouch when she blew past him, fingers and toes clawing at the soil as she skidded to a stop.

_Faster, have to be faster._

She pushed off from the ground without a moment's pause, dirt and grass flying out from beneath her feet. Bandages ripped away from between her toes as she moved, scraping over pebbles and sticks. If it hurt, she did not feel it, as she let chakra stream into the muscles of her legs and feet.

She dove at Lee, trying to tackle him by the waist. Quickly, Lee's kicked his foot out and above his head. Unable to change her direction in midair, Sakura's chest slammed into the sole of his sandal at full force, knocking the wind out of her lungs and throwing her back several feet.

Sakura crashed into the ground, rolling over herself until she landed in a messy crouch, a grass stain streaking across the back of her shirt and over her shoulders. Again she rushed at him, and again she was thrown off. Again and again she came at him, her strikes not landing, every punch and kick blocked and rebuffed. She managed to land one knee in his side, only for him to catch her by the arm and throw her, far into the distance.

She skidded through the grass, halfway to giving up. But Sakura forced herself onto her feet, refusing to lose. Her pride would not let her.

_Faster, Haruno._

Sakura took a deep breath, centering her gaze on Lee with a laser-like focus.

Her hold over her chakra was usually a tight fist, the barest and most controlled streams of chakra falling between like grains of sand. The nexus of energy in her chest roiled, burning hotter than it had before.

_Go._

Sakura's inner self released her fist, chakra shooting down each cord of muscles like arrows.

Sakura yelled loudly, a scream that tore through the air and made the birds in the trees fly away in surprise. Every running leap she took towards Lee kicked up puffs of dirt and grass. Chakra flooded through her body, ready to be put to use.

Sakura leapt into the air as she came down on Lee. He jumped backward, dodging out of her path of attack. But it didn't matter.

Sakura hit the ground with a practiced finesse. One fist, full of densely packed chakra that was released like the snap of a rubber band, hit the soil with a sharp, concentrated attack. The earth split and shook, spiraling out from her first as energy shoved it way down, down through dirt, earth, and rock. The grass rolled like the surface of the ocean, fracturing and splitting upwards and outwards as the tremendous shockwave passed through the ground. Unable to land on flat, solid ground, Lee tripped. Sakura had finally slowed him down enough to get at him.

Just as he managed to get to flat ground, Sakura was on him.

Sakura jumped on his back, knees squeezing at his waist while she scrambled to get him in a chokehold.

"Very good, Sakura!" Lee said, even as he leaned forward and reached over his head to grab her by the skull and throw her onto the ground.

"Are you really complimenting me right now?" she asked, laughing, as she jumped up and swung to face him, just barely blocking a fist that was headed straight for her nose.

"Of course. The strength of positive reinforcement cannot be forgotten, even between friends," he replied, ducking beneath her leg when she attempted to land a roundhouse kick to the face. Lee swiped at her anchored foot, taking her leg out from under her and dropping Sakura to the ground once again.

"Then I hope you're still my friend after this," she said, smiling sweetly into his confused face. He didn't even have time to say 'Huh?' before she rolled back onto her shoulders, kicking her legs into the air as hard as she could. One bare foot connected solidly with the underside of Lee's jaw, knocking his head back and sending him flying. When he landed, he gouged a divot into the ground, inertia sending his body deep into the dirt.

Sakura ran up to him, hoping he was okay.

Lee laid on his back in the pile of dirt, chest heaving with heavy, panting breaths. Already, a huge red welt was blossoming across his chin and cheek, promising to swell and turn into an ugly bruise and one hell of a black eye.

"Oh, Lee, I'm sorry! Are you okay?" she asked, dropping to her knees beside him. Her hands rose tentatively, shaking. Instinct told her to heal his jaw before it actually began to hurt. Fear, anxiety, and adrenaline told her to ball her hands into fists.

"Very good counter-attack, Sakura, but I think you may have chipped my tooth," he said, words slurring behind his swollen lips. Sakura sighed and cupped his face in her palm, very carefully threading healing chakra through her fingertips as she fixed the busted blood vessels along his chin, a thin and shaky stream that tickled at his nerves. Using her other hand, she pulled back his lower lip to peer into his mouth.

"I think you might be right about that one. I'm so sorry, Lee," she said, shrugging sheepishly as she withdrew her chakra.

"Do not be sorry, Sakura," he said, taking her hand and clambering to his feet. "That was a well-earned victory! Next time, I will bring more of a challenge."

"Oh god," Sakura replied, not exactly thrilled at the idea. All of her muscles burned with exhaustion. To do this again, and as  _more of a challenge?_ If today didn't kill her, Lee's sheer tenacity would.

Sakura and Lee walked over to Kakashi and Kiba, who were, in fact, discussing how to best care for a dog's coat.

"When exactly am I supposed to find the time to brush all eight ninken for an hour each?"

"If you wanted a good-looking hound you shouldn't have saddled yourself with so many of 'em."

"Maybe they don't  _sparkle,_  but they'd outperform yours and Hana's hounds any day, Inuzuka."

"Wanna put that to the test, Kakashi-sensei? Put some money where your mouth is, man! Even outnumbered two to one, the Haimarus and Akamaru could kick your asses."

"Oh no, what are you two planning?" Sakura groaned, collapsing on her stomach in the shade next to Akamaru, only half-heartedly trying to push his huge head away when he started licking the sweat on the back of her neck.

"Canine battle royale!" Kiba yelled enthusiastically, throwing one fist in the air.

"Absolutely not," Sakura said, rolling her eyes.

"You're no fun."

"I'm apparently the only one who worries about my insurance rates."

"About your what?"

"Kiba, your sister is a  _medic_  and you don't know what insurance is?" Sakura asked, incredulous.

"Look, man, I just go with the flow."

"You're going to die, is what you're doing."

"That's why we have you," Kiba said, laughing. He clambered to his feet, Akamaru hopping up excitedly beside him. "You ready?"

"Do I look ready?" she whined, wriggling pathetically in the grass.

"Not being a lazy lump in the shade you don't," he said, snapping his fingers at Akamaru. When Kiba walked away from the tree line, Akamaru gently took the fabric of the back of Sakura's shirt in his jaws, dragging her in the same direction.

"KIBA!" Sakura screeched, as Lee and Kakashi collapsed into fits of laughter.

"You shoulda moved faster."

"I'm going to beat your ass into next week!" Sakura yelled, scrambling to her feet the second Akamaru finally released her in the field. She gagged dramatically, peeling the slobbery, wet cloth of her shirt away from her back. Exasperated, she pulled the whole thing off of her head and dropped it on the ground. Adjusting the bandages strapped around her chest to be more secure, Sakura glared at Kiba.

"That was unnecessary."

"Depends on who you're askin'" he answered, digging through the pouch on his hip. "Here, let's make it interesting then, since you're all whiny and tired."

Kiba approached Sakura, holding something out for her in his palm. He was already tearing away the wrapper with his teeth and crunching through his when she took the military ration pill from his hand.

"Is this a good idea?" Sakura asked, eyes flitting between Kiba and Kakashi, who appeared wholly more interested in his book than anything she was doing. It couldn't be that bad of an idea if he didn't care, could it?

"It's no fun to try and fight a girl if she can't even put a real fight," Kiba said, shrugging. "My ma would kill me if she heard I wiped the floor with you if you didn't have a fair chance."

Sakura snorted while she peeled through the plastic wrapper.

"I don't need militia pills to have a fair chance at ruining your day, but I'll take it," she said, popping the pill into her mouth. Kiba grinned and backed away, Akamaru hopping around him excitedly as they settled into battle position.

Sakura felt the burn of the ration pill as is ran down her throat, chemicals dissolving into her saliva as soon as it hit her tongue. Immediately, every trace of chakra in her body seemed to swell, raging into a thick, molten lava in her muscles. Sakura could  _feel_ the hair all over her body stand on edge, skin prickling with anticipation.

"FANG OVER FANG!"

* * *

Naruto and Hinata strolled through the forest, following the sounds of smashing rock and earth towards where Tsunade had said Sakura would be.

"Sakura-chan has been training an awful lot recently, hasn't she?" Hinata said, linking her arm through her husband's and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"That last mission got her mixed up with this crazy blood thing, Granny Tsunade said this was what she was gonna have to do to control her chakra again."

"Sakura-chan is so determined, it really is quite inspiring, don't you think?"

Naruto laughed, as the trees around them began to thin.

"She definitely inspires me not to piss her off, that's for sure."

Hinata swatted Naruto's arm with reproach, but she was betrayed by the small smile that graced her polite lips.

They broke through the tree line, a dozen or so yards down from a raptly attentive Lee and Kakashi, just as Sakura's battle screech echoed through the area. Naruto instinctively pushed Hinata behind him, shielding her with his body, as they crept sideways to stand next to the other two.

"SHANNARŌ!"

A far-off section of the field exploded into the air, petal-sized clods of dirt going flying.

"When you told Granny Tsunade you weren't the type to hold the Hokage's office, I didn't think it meant you were gonna encourage this kinda damage to public land," Naruto said, laughing as two Kibas tore through the field, running away from the distant explosion of earth.

"She shouldn't have insulted me by thinking I'd do that much clerical work," Kakashi replied, not looking away from the action in front of them.

Both copies of Kiba leapt into the air as a bright pink blur surged from underground, piles of earth ballooning into the sky as Sakura punched her way out of the ground. Sakura tumbled into a skidding landing, charging at one of them. He lunged at her, claws tearing at her ribcage and blooming four wet red lines across her skin. Sakura ignored it and just slapped him in the face. He crashed into the ground, and with a puff of smoke returned to a giant dog.

"What was that?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"I believe I know," Hinata said, quietly, stepping around from behind Naruto's back, the veins around her eyes pulsing with chakra and making her irises glow ever so slightly.

"She disrupted the chakra flow, just by touching him. Her own chakra cut through his, just for a second, but enough to manually stop the jutsu."

Naruto stared at Hinata blankly, not quite understanding.

"Hinata, please correct me if I have misunderstood, but I thought that was something only the Hyuuga family with the kekkai-genkai could do?" Lee asked, turning to face her as he asked. Naruto tried not to make a face at the nasty bruise that pooled beneath his eye.

"She didn't attack his chakra points, she hasn't blocked them off or held them open. She just, cut through it, like swinging your hand through a stream of water. Akamaru will be fine in just a minute or so, but she was able to stop him entirely."

Kakashi hummed to himself in thought, watching the fight continue.

Sakura's skin was flush with heat as she dodged and weaved between Kiba and Akamaru, body almost as pink as her hair. Akamaru lunged, overtaking her with his massive shadow. Sakura jumped up to meet him in midair, wrapping her arms around his chest and slamming him into the ground. Dust clouded around as Kiba dove after them.

"I understand what you mean now when you said she would need to train, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, bulging eyes flitting back and forth as she watched something in the cloud of dust that the rest of them could not see.

Kakashi's head snapped sideways, attention focused on Hinata.

"Meaning?"

"With her chakra running at that frequency, she could come very close to shredding through organs, either her targets or her own," she said, one hand coming to cradle her swollen belly protectively. If Sakura even touched her stomach with her chakra flaring the way it was, those madly whipping tendrils of jade energy that only Hinata could see, she could badly injure the baby. "That energy is much rougher than the kind of chakra she usually manifests."

"Hmm…"

The dust finally settled in the field, revealing a bent Sakura, panting heavily with her hands on her knees. Kiba was piled under a mound of dirt, dazed, while Akamaru tried fervently to dig him out.

Sakura finally looked up, messy hair bouncing as she saw Naruto's bright orange pants in the distance. She waved, her voice small as she called out across the field.

"Hey Naruto! Hey, Hinata!"

Naruto turned and dropped a kiss on Hinata's cheek, before jogging out to where Sakura, who was squatting next to Kiba as he came to.

"Nahhh…," Kiba said, mumbling.

"Hey, hey. Wake up, Kiba," Sakura said softly, nudging at his shoulder.

"I think we might wanna call it a day," he said, his eyes blinking blearily open.

Sakura laughed at him. "Yeah, maybe that's a good idea."

She pushed herself to her feet, too quickly for her exhausted body to acclimate, and she toppled over as her vision and hearing went cottony white. Naruto just barely managed to catch her before she hit the ground.

Kiba finally stood, pulling himself up on Akamaru's shaggy fur, as the rest approached. Hinata walked to stand beside him, patting him encouragingly on the arm as he checked himself over for damage.

Naruto frowned as he held Sakura, feeling the heat of her still-reddened skin. She rubbed at her temples as the ringing in her ears faded.

"Are you good?"

"Yeah, just tired now that the adrenaline's worn off," she said, trying to wave off his concern. Sakura avoided eye contact with Naruto as she caught her breath, but she only ended up being caught by Kakashi's eyes from where he stood, close enough to touch if she reached out, but not too close for comfort among so many prying eyes. He looked worried, upset even, asking with pained eyes for her to be okay.

"Maybe you should take her to Lady Tsunade now, my love," Hinata suggested gently, leaning over Naruto's shoulder to look over Sakura. Hinata could still see Sakura's frantically shaking chakra network, pressure building and ebbing as energy tried to circulate around a body that wasn't prepared for the strain. Her eyes relaxed, and she saw the red flush that still burned just beneath Sakura's skin.

"Is it that bad?" Kiba asked. He was worried, chewing on his thumb with guilt.

"Sakura-chan will be just fine, Kiba, I'm sure. Lady Tsunade needed to see her anyway, she really just needs some rest. Will you take me home, Kiba? I'm really tired, you see," she said, one arm around her stomach and the other softly guiding Kiba towards a waiting Akamaru.

"I'll see you at home, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, waving goodbye as Kiba helped her onto Akamaru's back, clambering up behind her. He said his goodbyes and they were on their way.

Naruto gently set Sakura down, pulling off his jacket and giving it to her to wear over the ripped and stained chest bandages.

"I don't want to steal another jacket from you," she said, guiltily pulling it on.

"Well, tough. Hinata buys me tons and now there's no room in the closet. It'sa gift."

"Let me wash it before I decide if it's nice enough to be a gift."

"Ha ha ha, you're sooo funny."

"I try," Sakura said, pushing his arms away when he tried to pick her back up. "I've got this, thank you very much."

She tried to stand, but only succeeded in tipping all the way over again, knees buckling beneath her and face heading for the ground.

Kakashi got there first, appearing underneath Sakura just in time for her to land draped over his back.

"Okay, maybe I don't got this," she said, sighing. Kakashi patted her head with pity, moving to stand as he hitched Sakura higher on his back.

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei,' she said, squeezing her thighs ever so slightly around him in thanks.

"I  _tried_ to help," Naruto complained, rolling his eyes. "Sorry, Lee, I gotta take her back to see Tsunade in private. See ya later?"

"Yes! It was wonderful to fight with you, Sakura," Lee said, taking a deep bow that made the pinkette blush deeply. "I will prepare, just in case we get this opportunity again!"

And then he was gone, Naruto and Kakashi setting off quickly after, with Sakura along for the ride. She pressed her cheek into the rough back of Kakashi's flak jacket, taking deep breaths. Now that she wasn't moving, the pace of her heart was making her dizzy. Thankfully the rushing air that fanned over her face as Kakashi sprinted through the forest was cooling the feverish ache that spread through her.

Kakashi said something, so quietly that Sakura almost didn't hear it over the wind.

"Huh?" she asked, leaning in closer to his cheek so that she could hear him speak, her lips almost touching his ear.

"I asked if you're okay, you scared me back there."

"Oh, the big bad copy-nin is scared for me?" she teased, weakly.

"I'm serious, Sakura."

"Yes, Kakashi, I promise I'm fine. Just exhausted. Tsunade will patch me up," she said, sneaking a quick peck to the shell of his ear as Naruto ran ahead, his back to them.

Kakashi was unphased by her denials.

"If you were fine, Sakura, wouldn't you just heal yourself?"

Sakura had no answer to that. Instead, she fell silent, resting her head heavily on Kakashi's shoulder.

Sakura shut her eyes tight and willed her heart to slow down.


	15. Adrenaline

Naruto and Kakashi landed on the roof just outside the Hokage’s office, sandals rattling the corrugated metal sheets. Naruto rapped on the window and pulled it open, leading Kakashi and Sakura inside.

Sakura shuddered, hard, as the frigid cold of the air conditioning blasted through her hair. The sweat all over her skin chilled, making her teeth chatter. She recoiled into Naruto’s jacket, burrowing into Kakashi’s back.

“That took long enough.”

“Sorry Granny, she was in the middle of a fight.”

“Feel free to stop calling me that at any time.”

 “I’ll think about it.”

 “And I’ll think about staying in office forever, so you never get your face on that mountain.”

 “Lady Tsunade!” Shizune cried, aghast. Naruto, however, only laughed, flashing a bright smile.

 “I know you’ve been looking at buying property in the Land of the Moon, so I’m not scared.”

 This time, it was Naruto’s turn to be yelled at by Shizune.

 “How did you get your hands on her personal documents?!”

 "I have my ways.”

 “Lady Tsunade, you have to do something about this.”

 “I have bigger things to worry about than Naruto continuing to be a little shit, that’s the Hyuuga girl’s headache now.”

 “Hey, she loves every minute of it,” Naruto said, defensively.

 “Oh, I’m sure she does. Did you bring Sakura?”

 “Yep.”

 They all turned to face Sakura as she slid off of Kakashi’s back, legs still wobbling beneath her weight.

 “Good afternoon, milady.”

 “Sakura, you look like crap.”

 “It’s nice to see you too.”

 “I say it with love. Come here.”

Tsunade looked at Sakura with a gaze full of concern. A mind full of medical knowledge and honed by years of practice saw that the girl was not in good condition.

Sakura’s skin carried a hot, red flush, her breathing still thin and erratic even after being carried into the Village. When Tsunade took her hand, pressing two fingers to the delicate skin on the inside of Sakura’s wrist, she felt a pulse far too fast for someone standing still. A frantic, crackling buzz of chakra thrummed just beneath, jerking wildly through her circulatory system.

 “What happened?”

 “I took a militia pill, I’m thinking now that it wasn’t the best idea.”

 “No, probably not,” Tsunade replied, sighing deeply. Turning to Shizune, she said, “I want her blood tested. Go get the phlebotomy equipment and bring it here.”

 Shizune nodded, taking a quick bow and running out of the door.

 “You’re already trying to handle a powerful, unfamiliar chakra, and then you take a militia pill? All you did was pour gas into a fire, Sakura. I can _smell_ the adrenaline coming out of your pores. It’s a miracle you aren’t having a heart attack.”

 “I’m sorry, milady,” Sakura said, head falling in embarrassment.

 “Don’t apologize, you aren’t in trouble,” Tsunade said as Shizune scuttled back into the room, a case of tubing and needles in hand. “Just don’t be stupid next time. You’re too important to risk losing.”

 Sakura’s face reddened even more, unrelated to the adrenaline-fueled flush. She could only manage a nod.

 “Now give me your arm, we’re going to test the hormone levels in your blood. We need to know what your body is doing with all of that residual chakra,” Tsunade said, setting out an array of sterile needles, tubing, and other equipment.

 Sakura nodded, and began unbuttoning her borrowed jacket.

 “JEEZ, Sakura, why didn’t you say something about that?!”

 Sakura’s head snapped towards Naruto when he spoke, his voice much louder than necessary in the quiet room. He was staring at her side, finger pointing at her bandaged ribs. When she glanced down, her eyes widened.

 Four parallel gashes ran the length of her side, dried blood and sweat caked across her stomach and staining her pants and the grimy bandages. Fat, fresh beads of blood still oozed freely down her hip from between rough scabs. Sakura’s eyebrow rose, surprised to see scabs forming so soon on such an injury.

  _How much adrenaline has to be coursing through your body not to feel **that**?_

“Oh,” Sakura said, voice soft with surprise. Habit guiding action, her hand dropped to her side, beginning to channel chakra into the scratches. Tsunade jumped, lunging over her desk towards Sakura to try and yank her hand away.

 “No, _Sakura don’t-“_

The soft, bubbling glow that normally accompanied Sakura’s healing chakra was nowhere to be seen.

 Instead, jade green streams of light crackled out of her hand, emitting a high-pitched whine that forced nearly everyone in the room to cover their ears. No warm feeling of skin stitching together ever came. Sakura only stared in shock as the whipping tendrils of chakra ripped shallowly through her flesh, mincing the skin of her ribcage to bits. She was only barely beginning to feel the pain, a sharp, slicing, pain that peeled at her muscles, when Tsunade wrenched her hand away. Tsunade’s palm slapped against Sakura’s side, blood squeezing from between her fingers as the hum of healing chakra filled the room.

Sakura’s face blanched, knees finally giving out beneath her. Tsunade managed to catch most of her weight as she toppled over, but Sakura’s head still hit the floor with a sick thud.

Naruto moved, trying to get to Sakura, but found himself shoved harshly out of the way. He gave Kakashi’s back a funny look, eyebrow quirked as he watched the jōnin crouch next to an unconscious Sakura, by all accounts unaware that he had even pushed Naruto in his rush. One of his hands slid beneath her skull, lifting her head tenderly from the concrete floor.

Tsunade gestured for Shizune to come to her side.

“Handle this,” she said, lifting her hand quickly from Sakura’s ribs. The skin was red and puckered, raw tissue growing between each gash to knit the flesh together. Shizune’s hands pressed down immediately, resuming the glow and healing the wounds.

Tsunade’s hands moved to Sakura’s chest, the fluid mass of her healing chakra flowing into the pinkette’s heart.

“What’s happening?” Kakashi asked, his voice strained, nearly silent. Tsunade’s eyes flicked up to look at him, some small switch flicking in the back of her brain. He wasn’t looking at her, his hitae-ate shoved aside to allow him to stare attentively at Sakura’s pale, expressionless face with both eyes. The set of his jaw was deathly grim. Tsunade’s eyes traced the length of Kakashi’s arm to where his hand cradled Sakura’s skull, thumb gently stroking through the rosy strands of her hair.

The weight of realization dropped on her like a building.

“She’s in cardiogenic shock, her adrenal levels ran too high for too long. The hormones and chakra ran her body until it overheated. We’re lucky she just gave out instead of going tachycardic. I’m stabilizing her heart now. She’ll wake up soon.”

Tsunade watched Kakashi’s profile, seeing it relax the tiniest bit at her assurances, still completely consumed in Sakura’s unconscious features. She finally dropped her eyes to look at Sakura’s chest, the burning flush of her skin already cooling to a milky peach.

“When you’re done with that, Shizune, go ahead and get a blood sample. Her system is already equalizing, but something is better than nothing.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Shizune answered, already moving to the desk to collect a tourniquet. Kakashi’s throat squeezed as his gaze traveled to the freshly healed area, those 4 red parallel marks still fading away into the pale, shiny pink of new scars. Streaks of sweat and blood still ran down her body. She was going to be disgusted when she woke up, caked in dirt and stink and blood. And it was all his fault. He had set up her training for today, he hadn’t seen her take a militia pill and go haywire, he couldn’t even catch her in time to keep her from knocking herself unconscious.

_She deserves better than that, Hatake._

Sakura’s eyebrow twitched when Shizune slid the needle into her elbow with a practiced flex of the wrist. Kakashi’s shoulders tightened, his free hand almost grabbing hers out of instinct before he balled it into a fist, pressing it into his thigh. Color was beginning to return to her face, the bluish tinge of her lips warming to a healthy pink.

In that moment, as Sakura’s dazed eyes began to open, Kakashi wanted nothing more than to kiss those lips and crush her into his chest.

He didn’t. Shizune and Tsunade’s heads were between them, leaning tightly over Sakura’s chest, and Naruto was leaning over all of them from above. Kakashi was suddenly very aware of the way his palm cupped the nape of Sakura’s skull, but at this point there was nothing he could do except drop her, which certainly wasn’t an option.

Sakura’s vision settled into focus; the first thing visible being the top of Tsunade’s blonde head. Just beyond that, her eyes locked onto Kakashi’s deeply worried ones. Tension drained from his face as soon as he could recognize the awareness in her eyes, his expression filling with relief.

Sakura still felt dizzy and confused, but even in her hazy state one thought glided its way through her mind.

_Please don’t look so scared, sensei…_

* * *

A little less than an hour later, Sakura was wrapped in a spare blanket and perched in Tsunade’s chair, holding a steaming cup of (decaffeinated) tea. Tsunade was leaning against the desk, one finger pressed into Sakura’s forehead, carefully monitoring her system with a wash of cool chakra throughout her body.

Shizune had taken the samples of Sakura’s blood to the hospital to personally handle, with instructions to come back with the results as soon as possible. Naruto and Kakashi both stood on the other side of the desk, watching with concern.

“The effects of militia pills can last up to three days. You need to be careful, if you get another rush of adrenaline and lock yourself in that cycle, your heart is going to rip in half. You’re lucky you just went into mild shock.”

“Yes, milady,” Sakura said softly, sighing into her tea. Things were bad if ‘mild cardiogenic shock’ could be put in the lucky category.

Tsunade hummed in acknowledgment, eyes sliding shut as she focused on her scan of Sakura’s body.

“So, when did the issues controlling your chakra start?”

“It was just then, I swear. Otherwise I wasn’t having issues controlling it. It’s been overwhelming, I’ll admit, but not uncontrollable.”

“I see. So you haven’t had any issues healing besides what just happened?”

Sakura’s eyes flicked down and she bit her lip, shame flooding her face.

“My anxiety was interfering with it again, since the other day,” she said, quietly, almost whispering into her tea.

“Since Moriki passed in surgery?”

Sakura nodded numbly. “I don’t even know who called time of death.”

“I did.”

Sakura’s head snapped back up, looking at Tsunade with wide eyes. Tsunade pushed back at Sakura’s forehead, another finger dropping to press into the lilac seal between her eyebrows.

“So you saw what happened, you saw-” Sakura tried to say, words failing her as images of gristle and blood splashing in her mouth and over her clothes rose in her mind’s eye.

“I did. I still stand by the opinion that his odds of survival were null when he came in, Sakura. Calm down.”

Sakura took in a deep breath through her nose, willing her heart rate to stay slow and steady. She could feel the flow of Tsunade’s foreign chakra signature as it ran through her muscles and organs, a tingling sensation that needled its way all the way to her toes.

“Elevated levels of cortisol would only exacerbate the effects of the militia pills. What we don’t know is why that made your chakra uncontrollable,” Tsunade said. Her brow furrowed as she ran her senses through Sakura’s body.

“Do you feel that?" 

“Feel wha- ow.”

Sakura moved her arm, shaking it free from the folds of the blanket. She looked in confusion at her wrist, where a ghostly pink scar cut its way through the delicate flesh of her inner arm. As she, Kakashi, and Naruto watched, a shiny red scrawl bloomed along the length of the scar. Sakura bared her teeth, seething through the irritation as it burned in her skin. The length of the scar turned red, a thick line that crossed an empty circle.

“What’s that?” Naruto asked, suddenly peering closely at Sakura’s outstretched arm, having moved invisibly fast across the office. Sakura couldn’t help but think that if he had shown half this much curiosity in class, he wouldn’t have had so much trouble.

Tsunade pulled her hand away from Sakura’s forehead, opening her eyes and pushing herself off of the desk. As her chakra receded from Sakura’s body, the glowing red seal along Sakura’s forearm faded away, leaving behind a faint red stain of irritation.

“That’s the Blood Seal.”

“I thought the Blood Seal was that big stone thing out in the Water islands,” Naruto said, standing straight up and looking at Tsunade for explanation.

“The fūinjutsu goes both ways. She’s bound to it; it’s bound to her. Everyone who entered that contract shackled their chakra to the Seal. All of the chakra in the bodies of those Blood-nin who died in the cave-in would have been absorbed by the Seals. That cut is a sacrificial symbol that binds chakra with seals written with blood. And as we all know, nothing really compares to the strength of seals made in blood.”

“Like for summoning the ninken or the toads?” Naruto asked.

“Similar,” Tsunade said, walking away from the desk to scan through the bookshelves that lined her office.

“I don’t remember reading anything like that in any of the intel scrolls Sasuke sent,” Sakura said, eyes darting towards Kakashi for confirmation.

“Looks like Naruto has some things to teach you about finding sensitive documents,” Tsunade said, making Naruto laugh mischievously. She gripped the edge of one of the massive bookcases, and with no effort at all swung the entire thing away from the wall to reveal a jutsu-sealed safe embedded in the wall.

“I’ve been your apprentice for ten years, and I’ve never seen that.”

“Really? I found that two days after I came back to town with Jiraiya,” Naruto said, leaning on the back of Sakura’s seat and grinning.

“That’s why Sakura still has a chance of making jōnin, because she doesn’t go out looking for things she shouldn’t.”

 Sakura stuck her tongue out at Naruto, making him roll his eyes and huff.

 “Whatever.”

 Tsunade retrieved an armful of scrolls, resealed the jutsu and swung the bookshelf back to its innocuous position against the wall. She dumped them onto the desktop, rifling through them until she found the one she wanted.

She peeled it open and spread it across the desk for everyone to see. Just looking at it, Sakura could tell that it was newer than many of the ones she had taken home; no wonder Tsunade had kept these one’s under particularly close watch. The more recent, the more trust Sasuke would have from the Blood, the better and more dangerous the information would be. All the gaps in Sakura’s knowledge began to make sense. The most important information had just been in Tsunade’s wall this whole time. Annoyance tugged at Sakura’s nerves thinking about it.

“Sasuke has a similar scar, but I believe on his stomach.”

Sakura nodded, remembering the cuts that had marred his torso. One had been especially deep, a straight line that had gutted him from navel to ribs but had healed in a peculiarly fine scar. One similar to the almost artful scar on Sakura’s wrist.

It wasn’t those people just being insane creeps, when they had demanded her sacrifice and poured her chakra-flooded blood into the Seal, it had been them trapping her. Changing her body at its basest levels.

Sakura had to lean forward, jutting her head between her knees, and take deep breaths until the wave of nausea passed.

“I hadn’t taken the time to read these scrolls before, because without someone in front of me bound by the Seal, it’s all basically useless except for theoretical conjecture. After you came back, however, I took them aside.”

Tsunade’s manicured finger traced to a specific section of ink, her eyes scanning through it before she spoke.

“Ketsu Chi used the Blood Release to bind all of the chakra in her body into the Blood Seal, burning it into being with her own blood. Every other person who bled onto that Seal bound their chakra into it as well, but it also gave them access to Chi’s implanted chakra, and the chance to develop abilities similar to the Ketsu kekkai-genkai.”

 “But what _is_ that?” Sakura asked, stress evident in her voice.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” Tsunade said, looking up from the parchment. “I can only hope that you’ll develop abilities that will give us a basis to work from. I assume that whatever the core of the Blood Release is, it has something to do with how she created that Seal.”

“So, you _knew_ that those people would drag me into a blood pact, and you _let them and didn’t warn me,_ so that you could use me for a _medical experiment?”_ Sakura asked, seething. Anger sparked in her eyes, skin reddening dangerously.

“No, I didn’t. Calm down.”

Sakura continued to glare but took several deep breaths to abate her building annoyance.

“It took two years before they allowed Sasuke to contract into the Blood. I told you that they were gearing up for something big; they were actively recruiting in a way that our spies had never seen before. We had no reason to believe they would immediately do that to you.”

Sakura looked back at her hands, focusing on them alone as they squeezed tightly around the cup of tea, now cold and murky.

“So what’s the importance of this, then?” she asked, turning her wrist over to look at her scar. “I couldn’t sense anything around the scar on Sasuke’s stomach, how did you know that was there?”

“Because I read that it would be, first of all. You would have already read these if you had _asked_ and not just taken a pile from Shizune’s desk.”

Sakura rolled her eyes.

“Second, Sasuke hadn’t just been in a fight, you wouldn’t have felt any effect on his chakra levels. Your Blood Seal, however, is scrambling your body’s hold on the Reserve Seal. This,” she said, tapping lightly on Sakura’s forehead, “is being destabilized and leaking chakra all over the place. Your usual constant chakra reserves have expanded because of this,” she continued, pointing at Sakura’s wrist. “And then the militia pills raised those levels even more. And for whatever reason, all of that chakra reacted _violently_ with your adrenaline rush from those same militia pills.”

Sakura leaned forward and set her tea on the desk, tired of holding it. She rubbed her forehead, thinking through the options before her.

Or more accurately, the lack thereof.

“So what can she do?” Kakashi asked, speaking for the first time in a while. Tsunade looked at him, still unsure of how to handle his involvement here.

“Jiraiya was able to remove the Five-Pronged Seal that Orochimaru placed on Naruto, which stabilized his chakra control. That isn’t an option here.”

“Why cantcha just take it off of her?” Naruto asked. 

“I’ve got good reason to believe that could kill her. Sakura’s chakra is bonded to that seal. Without the seal, she has no chakra.” 

Sakura dragged in a shaky breath, doing her best to hold back sobs. She was so close to panicking she couldn’t even participate in the conversation. A conversation about her, with her in the room, and they had devolved to talking about her in the third person. Sakura lifted her head to look at Kakashi with tears in her eyes, begging for comfort. This time, Tsunade caught the furtive glance as Sakura threw it across the room. 

Alright then. More complicated then she had thought. 

“So, what are you going to do about it?” Kakashi asked again, more forceful this time, edging on desperate. Tsunade looked at him sharply, and his heart dropped into his stomach. He could recognize that glint of _I know what you’re up to_ in her brown eyes. 

“What I can _attempt_ to do, is to move it.” 

At this, Sakura perked up. This she could understand. 

“If it’s located over the Reserve Seal, wouldn’t it just do the same thing the Five-Pronged Seal did?” she asked, relieved to finally be able to participate in a conversation about her own problem.

“It’s doing that already, and it’s all the way down your wrist.”

“Then what will moving it accomplish?”

“The Reserve Seal is here,” Tsunade answered, tapping her own forehead, “because the Third Eye opens our consciousness and aligns our chakras. The Reserve Seal is a single significate; the Blood Seal might be bigger but it’s also a single significate. We could, theoretically, align them together in this spot, so that they don’t continue to channel chakra through your system at such unstable frequencies. The other option is to release the Reserve Seal, permanently.”

“Then we should do it, right? The procedure?” Sakura asked, looking at each person in the room.

“You shouldn’t decide so quickly, it still carries a risk-“

The office door rattled with three sharp knocks, before Shizune rushed through.

“Lady Tsunade, you need to see this,” she said, letting the door slam behind her, not concerned at all that she had just interrupted the Hokage. In her arms were a few errant vials, some empty, some not, and a sheaf of papers: Sakura’s test results.

Tsunade snatched the papers from Shizune’s arms without waiting for an explanation, flipping back and forth through the pages. The results confirmed her suspicions; the levels of adrenaline, norepinephrine, and cortisol in Sakura’s blood ran off the top of the printed charts. And yet, besides that, there was little to no indication of Sakura’s body taking severe damage from the chakra burn. No lactic acid buildup indicated chronically strained, overused muscles. No alarmingly low blood sugar levels indicated that cortisol and adrenaline had been flooding her endocrine system for extended periods of time, beyond that day.

“What is it I’m supposed to be looking at?”

“It wouldn’t show up in any of the tests, I didn’t see it until one of the lab tech dropped a vial, but, here,“ Shizune said, holding up a vial of Sakura’s blood.

“You were supposed to test this, Shizune, what are you trying to show-“

 When Shizune held the vial up, it glinted strangely in the sunlight that shone through the windows. Tsunade snatched it from her hands, holding it closer to her eyes.

“What is it?” Sakura asked, standing up and gripping tightly on the edge of the desk for support. Tsunade brought the vial over towards Sakura, rolling it back and forth. As the blood oozed back and forth inside the glass, it continues to give off a distinct jade sparkle.

“But that shouldn’t be possible, chakra outside of the chakra network has to be maintained if it isn’t sealed.”

 “Apparently not, it looks like your blood is retaining the chakra on its own.” 

“How?”

Shizune stepped in beside them, holding a small glass slide between her fingers.

“It was checked under a microscope. Chakra is bouncing from blood cell to blood cell like an electric charge. It doesn’t stop, it doesn’t slow down, it just keeps circulating throughout the samples until they’re exposed to air. At that point it dissipates naturally, but until then it just…keeps going.”

“Uhh…..Do you have any idea what any of that is supposed to mean?” Naruto asked, turning to Kakashi and scratching the back of his head.

“Not really?”

“It means her chakra is binding to her blood, which might explain why it became so violent when her adrenaline spiked and her blood pumped faster,” Tsunade said, taking her chair back and scooting to the desk. “But this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of glowing blood.” She picked through the scrolls, finding one of the oldest, dry and cracking more than the others.

“One of the few accounts from someone who survived the Ketsu Isle disaster.”

Tsunade handed the scroll off to Sakura, who unfurled it enough to begin to read.

_Ketsu Asahi was a child during the annihilation of his clan. He is one of three I have found who survived that night, all of whom were children._

_He insists he saw the demon, a monster with three tails, die at Ketsu Chi’s hands. He says that “the monster bled lights that the Lady Chi swallowed, and it made her glow.”_

_He couldn’t explain how she was able to do so, only that it “was one of the High Family’s special powers.”_

“You aren’t trying to tell me I have a jinchūriki inside of me, because that’s honestly a joke.”

“No, of course not. The Akatsuki located and took hold of Isobu long after any of this occurred. But it was indeed confirmed by the current Mizukage that the Three-Tails was forced into a child’s body that night, and retaken from that same child’s corpse at dawn the next morning, after something else killed the host body.”

“So what you’re saying is…”

“But if its possible for Sakura’s chakra to bind into her blood, and stay in her blood, its possible that Chi could have bound the jinchūriki’s energy to its own blood and consumed it, and absorbed it. She would have been able to retain it within her body just the way Sakura is doing now, without any conscious effort.”

“How is that even possible?” Shizune asked, amazed by the things being said. Even if it was all theory, based on the shakiest of assumptions taken from a glittering test tube of blood, the idea, the possibilities behind it could change the entirety of Sakura’s capabilities. Chakra was organic, but it was also pure energy; a substance that wavered somewhere between two phases of matter. For it to bind so effectively to organic matter was uncommon, basically unheard of except for with the most complex of fūinjutsu.

“Every shinobi who contracted into the Blood is bound by both their blood and their chakra. The Blood Seal itself could be melding those two things together itself. If every evolution of ability gained from the Blood chakra is based on their blood and chakra becoming symbiotic, that could be the very basis of the Blood Release.”

Sakura listened to Tsunade ramble on, guessing and explaining this detail and that to herself more than anyone, while staring at her bare, torn up feet.

She hated this.

When this first happened, she thought it was going to be easy. Time intensive, but easy. Chakra control had always been so natural to her – to lose that control felt like losing the foundation of her career. It was what she built everything on. Sakura had thought she would handle this like she handled everything else, calmly, in stride, and without breaking down in front of everyone she knew. She had thought she would become like Naruto and Sasuke, powerful and intimidating, completing the second coming of the Legendary Sannin. A few days of smooth sailing had made her cocky, and here came disaster on its tails. Just like always.

Now, Sakura was just trapped by the mechanics of her body as its functions were stolen from her. So many years spent beating her body into submission. So much time poured into forming her Reserve Seal, endless hours of meditation. She just wanted some chance at control back. Sakura wanted _Sakura_ back.

“I’ll do it.”

Tsunade stopped midsentence, as everyone turned to face Sakura, who was wrapping herself more tightly in the blanket.

“I want you to realign the seals. I’ll go through with it.”

“Sakura, you shouldn’t decide that so quickly,” Shizune tried to say, hoping Sakura would take the time to reconsider.

“I don’t care. I’m not releasing the Reserve Seal. I worked too hard for it.”

“Your system is still under the influence of the militia pills, we have to wait for your system to flush before we can attempt anything. Three days, minimum,” Tsunade said, leveling Sakura with a very serious stare. Sakura returned it, unphased. This was too much. She couldn’t continue with this, not if she had no hope of regaining control over her own body.

“Fine. Until then, I just want to go home,” Sakura said, before lapsing into a chilly silence, staring out of the window. She felt completely and utterly alone, suffering from something that no one around her could understand.

“Okay, Sakura,” Tsunade said, sighing. Her voice was considerably softer with her next words. “I’ll check on you soon, I promise.”

Tsunade cleared her throat, readjusting her haori around her shoulders.

“Uzumaki, take her home.”

Naruto nodded, letting Sakura climb onto his back without a word. Within moments, he was out of the window and out of sight.

Kakashi was beginning to follow them was Tsunade interrupted.

“One moment, Hatake. Shizune, take these samples back to the hospital and see that they are properly stored.”

Shizune took the materials in her arms, bowing out of the door with a short goodbye.

Kakashi’s lungs felt like cold concrete when he slowly turned to meet the full force of the Fifth Hokage’s gaze.

“We should talk about you and Haruno Sakura, don’t you think?


	16. Chapter 16

"I wasn't aware that there was anything to talk about."

"So that was some other silver-haired old man fawning over Sakura when she was waking up earlier?"

"I'm not  _old,_ " he said defensively, choosing to ignore the rest of the question.

"Too old for Sakura, some might say."

"There would have to be something happening for somebody to say anything about it. Which there's not."

"So you wouldn't have an issue with me, for instance, setting Sakura up on a date?"

"Not at all. But I think we both know Sakura would."

Kakashi carefully trained his face into a neutral expression, trying not to show his terror at the threat of Tsunade's wrath when she narrowed her eyes at him. Tsunade didn't like it when her bluffs were called, even though one would imagine anybody as bad a gambler as she would have gotten used to it by now.

Tsunade shut her eyes, leaning forward on her elbows and resting her chin against interlocked fingers. Kakashi held his breath.

"So, if, hypothetically, you were engaged in a romantic relationship with Sakura, how long would it have been going on?"

"Hypothetically, it hasn't."

Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair. With an exhausted shake of her head, she began rummaging through the drawers of her desk, pulling out her ever-present supply of sake and cups. She poured a generous amount for each of them, pushing the full cup across the desk in Kakashi's direction. He eyed it warily, not quite trusting her at this moment.

"If I was going to hurt you, I'd be more imaginative than spiking your drink."

"You can never be too careful," he said, moving forward to take the cup and sip at it politely. Tsunade dragged at hers and dropped the cup on the desktop heavily.

"I'm sure you can imagine that I've had my fair share of relationships with…younger partners," Tsunade said, rubbing her temples.

Kakashi's eyes widened the slightest bit.

"Oh?"

"Don't look so surprised. I don't make myself look like this for my health, I still have the liver of a 70-year-old woman," she said, refilling her cup. "It's useless to try and pick somebody up if you look like a withered old hag. And I do have standards, you know."

Kakashi chose to look anywhere but at Tsunade as he drank, hoping the embarrassed blush in his cheeks would not be visible above the edge of his mask. This was not a conversation he wanted to be having. Not in the slightest. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to run as fast and as far as he could before his Hokage smashed him into a bloody pulp. The only thing giving him either courage or restraint was the burn of the alcohol as it ran down his throat.

"I wouldn't blame you for having…an  _interest_ in Sakura. I will happily take credit for how impressive she is. And for finally getting her a decent hairdresser."

Kakashi continued to avoid her eyes.

"However, what I would like to know, is what the hell you're doing that she's looking at you like a lost puppy whenever she's scared."

_Ah, there it is._

"Is it really so out of the ordinary for a student to rely on their former sensei for moral support?"

"It is when their former sensei strokes his fingers through her hair as a form of 'moral support'," she said, red fingernails scratching quotation marks into the air.

Kakashi choked on his drink, sake shooting into his nose and spilling all over the front of his mask. Tsunade didn't react, only scooting the sake bottle closer to his side of the desk. He took it without missing a beat.

"So, I'll ask again. How long has this been going on?  _Not_ hypothetically."

Kakashi drained his cup, refilled it, and drained it again. He topped it off a second time, sipping it more slowly now. He pulled in a deep breath, wishing he could see Sakura one last time before Tsunade surely killed him.

"How long has she let my undeserving ass in close enough to show her I care, or how long has my undeserving ass loved her?"

* * *

Sakura finally slid off of Naruto's back when they reached her door, as she began fumbling about her person, looking for her keys.

When she couldn't find them, she began to break down. It was the final straw. Tears streamed out of her eyes and she choked on spit and snot in her throat, desperation and hysterics beginning to spiral out of control.

"Hey, hey, Sakura, come here. Shh, shh," Naruto said, wrapping his arms around her. He leaned his back against the wall, sliding down until they were both sat on the floor, Sakura leaning into his chest and bawling. Her fists clenched at the front of Naruto's shirt, twisting it between her fingers.

Sakura could feel her heartbeat speeding up, her blood pressure rising. She could feel the static of her chakra pulsing harder beneath her skin. She hated it. She wanted it to stop. It had felt so  _good_ a few days ago, like a fire inside of her chest. But now it felt like acid. She didn't want to be forced into something that she couldn't control, couldn't get rid of. She didn't want her body to betray her. She didn't want her anxiety to hijack her life again, controlling not only her mind but now her body's ability to function. First, it took her ability to use her healing abilities, replaying images of Moriki's arm exploding in gruesome slow motion. Now, it was stealing her body and using it against her, turning her panic into physical pain, threatening to rip her inner organs into squelching muck.

Naruto kept his arms locked tightly around Sakura's body, holding her securely to his chest.

"Panic attack?" he asked, voice soft, calmly rubbing one hand reassuringly across her shoulder blades. Sakura nodded into his shoulder, not speaking, unable to force her mouth to make words. It took everything she had just to breathe through the bile that burned in the base of her throat.

She could tell her heartbeat was getting dangerously out of control, skipping beats and pumping too fast. Chakra was rocketing through her veins. Tears ran from her eyes and stained Naruto's shirt.

Sakura felt suddenly convinced that she was going to die. Her breath caught in her throat and she began to choke.

Naruto began to hum, just loudly enough for Sakura to hear above her pathetic cries. The gentle thrum of his chest against her cheek grounded her, giving her something to match every shaky intake of breath to. Slowly, her shaky breathing and racing heart slowed to a pace that didn't make her feel like throwing up, but the prickling distress that needled at her throat would not fade away. After several minutes, her violent shaking calmed to a soft trembling, and Naruto finally relaxed his hold around her.

Sakura sat up, rubbing tears and snot from her face. Every inch of her body felt grimy and disgusting.

"Sorry."

Naruto hopped to his feet, crouching down to offer a helping arm to Sakura as she attempted to stand. She leaned heavily on him as he led them the few steps back to her front door.

"I mean, I'ma 'bout to have a kid, aren't I? What kind of dad am I if I can't be a shoulder to cry on?" he asked, smiling gleefully even as he twisted the knob on Sakura's door, snapping the lock and popping the door open.

"Apparently the kind who breaks people's doors."

"Hey, I can fix it."

Sakura laughed at him then, shaking her head with disbelief.

_He means Hinata will send someone to fix it. He doesn't even know how helpless he is._

Naruto helped her stumble towards the couch, letting her drop into the cushions unceremoniously. She let out a loud sigh, relieved to be home, to be sitting, to be safe.

"I wouldn't stretch out like that, you're…really gross."

"Thank you so much for your concern," she said, mumbling into the pillows.

"You're the one who likes being clean," he replied, leaving her on the couch and walking into her bedroom. Sakura pushed herself back up, running her fingers through her dirty, knotted hair. She looked around her apartment tiredly as she tried to pick out the bits of leaf and twig still stuck in the strands.

When Sakura's eyes landed on the messy piles of scrolls that still covered the top of her kitchen table, she sighed heavily. She was just so tired of this already. And she knew that none of this was near over.

Naruto came back out of Sakura's room, a pile of old pajamas in hand. He handed them to her, then dropped beside her on the couch.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, looking at her with more seriousness than he was prone to.

Sakura sighed again, leaning back against the cushions and staring at the ceiling.

"How do you do it? You have the Kyūbi inside of you…all of that chakra. How do you control it?"

Naruto was silent for a moment, fingers fiddling idly with the bandages that wrapped his prosthetic arm as he thought about his answer.

"I know you were around for at least a couple of the times that I  _did_ lose control. I don't even remember what happened those times, just what Yamato-taichou or Granny Tsunade would tell me in debriefing. And yeah, I can't lie, those times scared the shit outta me."

Sakura sat up, turning in her seat to face Naruto as he spoke, his voice gruff. She did remember those occasions, when the Nine-Tails cloak burned its way across his skin and turned him into a nigh-uncontrollable chakra-fueled atomic bomb. Sakura shivered.

"It took a long time to get the hang of it. But honestly, Sakura, it's not like I've ever been in control of it. Not the way you've always been. You picked up walking on trees and water so fast, I thought Kakashi had transformed into you just to piss me n' Sasuke off into trying harder."

"I wouldn't put it past him."

"I know, right! Anyways. Even now, it's not exactly controlled. Not the kinda control you gotta have to do your medical ninjutsu, anyway. If I had that sorta control, I wouldn't need a shadow clone to form the Rasengan."

Sakura nodded, listening to him attentively.

"I had to learn to work with it. I don't control Kurama, and Kurama doesn't control me. We need each other, and I'm just the half that's got hands. I just had to learn to let it be part of me, formed a bond that I could use for the better."

Sakura looked thoughtfully at her hands, at the scar on her wrist.

In a vaguely calmer, more level-headed state of mind, she reevaluated her situation. Naruto was right, chakra control had always come somewhat naturally to her, but even as a child, and as a training medic, things had been difficult at times. Maybe not patient-exploding, inner-organ-tearing difficult, but, well. Grown-up shinobi, grown-up problems.

Sakura sighed.

"That's why I have to have Lady Tsunade do the procedure, to align these seals," she said, lifting and dropping her arm on the couch with a pointed  _thump._

"I can't accept that  _this_ is a part of me, not if it forces me to release my Reserve Seal, not when I spent three years forming it. A three-year-long migraine and dozens of bloody noses went into this damn thing, I'm not going to give it up."

"Hey, it's okay. Nobody's askin' you to."

"Shizune was," Sakura said, almost spitting with spiking anger. Shizune  _knew_ how much went into forming the Reserve Seal. How dare she suggest that Sakura sacrifice it when Shizune didn't even have the necessary precision to create one for herself?

"Shizune is your super concerned, always-nervous aunt, Sakura. She just wants you to consider the risks before you do anything really dangerous, 'cause she cares about you so much."

Sakura crossed her arms with a huff.

"You know I'm right."

"That doesn't mean I have to admit it."

"Come on, you know I'm an endless well of fatherly advice."

"You're annoying, is what you are."

"You know you looooove me," Naruto said, throwing his arms around her. He screwed his eyes shut and puckered his lips, making disgustingly loud kissy noises right next to her ear. Sakura started laughing, smacking her hand against his face and pushing him away from her face. She screamed when he licked her palm, scooting across the couch with a loud shriek of laughter.

Naruto stood up, readjusting his hitae-ate around his head. Sakura followed suit, collecting the pile of clean pajamas Naruto had brought to her.

"You gonna be okay tonight?" he asked, all traces of humor leaving his face.

"Yeah, I will be. I promise. I just really need a hot shower and to sleep. You should go ahead and go home to Hinata, before she gets worried."

Naruto gave Sakura one last warm, spine popping hug as he made his move to leave.

"She's not worried, she knows you'd kick the ass of anyone who even tried to take me. And I  _promise_ I'll fix this door tomorrow."

Sakura waved him out, laughing at him, as she wedged the door shut in the frame. Once he was finally gone, she leaned against the door, letting out a heavy gust of air from her lungs.

She stood there for a moment, before becoming aware again of just how  _gross_ her skin was and walked towards the bathroom as the sun began to set.

* * *

"Three years, huh?"

"Yeah."

Kakashi and Tsunade were sitting on the roof, leaning against the outer wall of Tsunade's office and staring at the mountain as they talked. Tsunade was still sipping at her sake, having told Kakashi that there was so little left in the bottle that she might as well polish it off today. He had eyed the nearly one-third full bottle and said nothing. Now, as the sky began to bleed from cool blue to warm orange and pink, their conversation was still following its path.

"That's a long time to let your feelings go unrequited."

"Was I supposed to pursue a 20-year-old?"

"Is it any better that you're pursuing a 23-year-old?"

Kakashi pulled the sake bottle from Tsunade's lap, cracking it open and taking a swig before wedging it back between her knees.

"No, probably not."

Tsunade hummed, taking a drink. She looked thoughtfully at the mountain, and Kakashi waited for her to say something either poignant or spiteful.

"They really made my face look fat up there, don't you think? I specifically told them to make sure I looked good since it's fucking huge and all."

Kakashi laughed dryly, looking up at the massive carving of the Godaime's face.

"No, your mountain carving doesn't have a fat face, Lady Hokage."

Tsunade slumped back against the wall, still looking thoughtfully at the stone faces.

"You could have had your own fat face up there, you know."

"We both know that was never going to happen."

"No, because you're so deeply avoidant of having people depend on you that you'd rather spend your twilight years as a hermit with your nose buried in a book than taking the Hokage's office."

Kakashi turned his head sharply to look at Tsunade, offended. He couldn't, however, deny that she was right. The conversation was taking a turn that made his fingers itch to pull out his book and cease all talking.

"It's not a bad thing. If you don't want to do it, you shouldn't. It's a heavy responsibility that, contrary to appearances, I do not take lightly," Tsunade said, punctuating her words with sips of sake. Kakashi snorted at the irony.

"What I also don't take lightly, is that girl's wellbeing."

"Ah, back on track, now are we?"

"Don't be a smartass. Just because I'm being patient now doesn't mean I can't take creative license, Hatake."

Kakashi quieted immediately, not one to recklessly defy the weight of authority in his Lady Tsunade's voice.

"So, explain to me how someone who won't even keep a genin squad for more than a few months plans on handling a long-term relationship with Sakura?"

Kakashi took a deep breath as he tilted his head back, searching for the words.

"I would do anything to protect her, Lady Tsunade. You started sending us on missions together five years ago, and I thought I was going to have to go out of my way to protect her. But instead, she held her own right alongside me. And then she began saving my life every other week and saving me hundreds of trips to the hospital. I started to trust Sakura more than anyone, began to trust her with my life, literally."

"Saving you  _how_ many trips to the hospital?"

"That's what you took away from that?"

"I'm still your boss. But we'll revisit it later. Continue."

"And then, in the Land of Snow, it was like I was seeing her as Haruno Sakura, deadly and capable and devastatingly beautiful."

Tsunade held the sake bottle out to him, sensing he needed it.

"I hated myself for it. I knew other people would hate me for it. I still kind of hate myself for it," he said, taking the bottle. Tired of pretenses at this point, he pulled his mask down to pull harshly at the neck of the bottle as he drank. Tsunade respectfully averted her gaze, knowing it would make him more comfortable. She already knew what he looked like, of course, there was no point in making him more uncomfortable than he already was.

"I just didn't address it, tried not to think about it, started booking separate rooms on missions and tried to keep my distance. But on the night Shikamaru was appointed, I drank too much and got too close to her and I –" he stopped, deciding she probably wouldn't be too happy with an explicit description. "But she didn't ask me to stop, and when I did, she was pissed. She woke up a whole block yelling at me after I realized I needed to go."

"And then we get to now."

"And then we get to now."

Kakashi sighed, looking out into the deep pinks and reds of the sunset, so fitting a setting for him to be thinking about the woman he loved.

"After we got back from the Mist, things were, ahem, different," he said, avoiding saying it outright. Tsunade caught the blush that burned across his neck from out of the corner of her eye, and she could guess well enough what he meant. It wouldn't be the first case of shinobi finding some physical means of relieving stress, to put it politely.

"And a few nights ago, Sakura fell asleep at her table, bent over Sasuke's scrolls and her own notes. She exhausted herself but refused to stop until she literally dropped onto the table. She was comfortable enough to fall asleep with me still there. She trusted me, even when she was scared and desperate about everything that's happening to her."

He paused, just for a second, still staring into the setting sun.

"I fell in love with her."

"Very sweet," Tsunade said, the slightest edge of amusement in her voice.

"I already feel like a bad Icha Icha sitcom, please don't make it worse."

"Does she love you back?"

Kakashi's throat hitched, head dropping slightly.

"No. She says she wants to, but we all know that would be too good to be true. Sakura should know better than that."

"You really are an idiot, Kakashi."

"Agreed."

"No, you insufferable cynic. You're an idiot for thinking she couldn't love you."

Kakashi turned to look at her with mild alarm. Tsunade made no move to face him, apparently unphased by how intensely her words were hitting him at this point.

"All that talk about your all-seeing Sharingan eye and you're blind to how she looks at you? If it weren't for the way she was basically begging for you to come hold her hand, I would have killed you on the spot."

Kakashi gulped.

"Sakura clearly wants you, needs you. I can't tell you how deep that goes, but it's certainly there. And you should consider yourself lucky for it, because it's the only reason I'm willing to allow any of this to continue at all. Sakura is an adult, a more responsible adult than you are at any rate. I can trust her to make her own decisions."

She paused.

"And she deserves to be happy. You do too, although that matters significantly less to me."

Tsunade polished off the bottle of sake and let out a loud burp that echoed through the air. Then, turning to look Kakashi straight in the eyes, threw the bottle into the distance with deadly accuracy. It sailed through the air, hitting a dumpster across the street and three stories down and shattering inside of the metal box.

"Don't think I won't be watching closely. If you hurt her…I won't hesitate, Hatake."

Tsunade then smiled, as if she hadn't just threatened Kakashi's life. With a nonchalant wave, she climbed back inside of the window and slid it shut, leaving him on the roof alone as twilight finally fell across the Village.

* * *

Sakura sat on the floor of her tub, letting hot water stream over her from above. Dirt and grime loosened from her hair, rinsing through the streaks of sweat that covered most of her body and swirling down the drain. She sighed happily, pouring shampoo into her palm and lathering it through her knotted locks. Her muscles relaxed as the scent of flowers surrounded her in the muggy air.

Sakura rinsed the suds from her hair and watched the bubbles disappear in the streams of water going down the drain. She pushed her hair back from her face, letting the hot spray hit her face and run down her throat.

Her hand fell to her side, fingers trailing lightly over the still-tender skin. Sakura couldn't feel any scar tissue, and her shoulders sagged in relief. Only the faintest of ridges cut through her ribs now, sure to fade away into nothing but soft skin overnight.

Anxiety under control, for the time being at least, Sakura was able to think about what had happened without risking a panic attack. A risk that apparently was tremendously more dangerous than it had ever been before.

Working conditioner through the ends of her hair, Sakura went over the things she knew about militia pills. Effects could last up to three days, depending on how much of the excess energy the user expends. Just by the ache of her muscles, Sakura assumed she'd knocked a good 24 hours off of that countdown. The chemicals were still being absorbed by her body, slowly being filtered out now that she had stopped fighting. Now that she was calm and in control of her senses, Sakura could agree with what Tsunade had said. She absolutely  _stunk,_ her sweat unbelievably acrid with the scent of excess secreted hormones. She began to scrub away at the built-up grime on her body, eternally grateful for the magic that was soap as the water flowing down the length of the tub ran a murky reddish brown. Her nose wrinkled with distaste as bits of coagulated blood and dirt collected around the drain.

So, when the chemicals of the militia pill were fully filtered out of her system, would she magically be able to control her chakra again? Sakura doubted it. The sheer amount of it that ran through her was overwhelming, and that didn't even take into account the fact that all of this chakra apparently responded to something as difficult to control as her hormones, as her heartbeat. It responded to panic, forcing her body into a self-destructive overdrive. It responded to adrenaline, seeming to slow time around her as the fight-or-flight reflex took over to a degree it never had before.

Sakura sighed, standing up in the shower to rinse the last of conditioner and soap from her body.

If Tsunade could align the seals, binding the Blood Seal to the Reserve Seal, it could help her immensely. The Reserve Seal would stop releasing chakra, for one. And if they were laid atop one another, could Sakura use the Reserve Seal to store away the overwhelming amount of chakra within her body in a separate reservoir?

It was worth a shot.

It was better than losing everything she had worked for.

She sat under the stream of water until it ran icy cold.

Sakura shut off the shower, twisting the water out of her hair and stepping out of the tub. She wrapped a towel around herself and looked in the mirror, wiping away the curtain of condensation to see her drawn face staring tiredly back at her. A droplet of water trailed from her hairline and down the side of her nose like a single, lone tear.

Sakura turned quickly away from her reflection, unimpressed by how exhausted her eyes looked in this light. She yanked on her sweatpants and tank top, leaving the sweaty, vile pair of ANBU pants and Naruto's jacket in a nasty wet heap in the corner of the bathroom. She wanted nothing to do with them at the moment.

Wrapping her hair into the towel to dry, Sakura opened her bathroom door to step back into her apartment. When she walked out, she saw Kakashi squatted barefoot next to her front door and fiddling with it.

"Hey."

"Hey there," Kakashi responded. "What happened here?"

"I didn't have my keys and well, you know how Naruto can be," she said, coming up to where he was crouched by the door.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'stupid'."

Sakura hummed noncommittally in response.

"I'd go with enthusiastic. What are you doing?"

"Your patience is infinite. I'm replacing your locks."

"Some call it a blessing."

"What, your patience?"

"That too," Sakura said, as Kakashi stood and stepped away from the door, letting her shut it and flip the new lock.

Kakashi wrapped his arms around her from behind, and Sakura sank into his chest. She tipped her head back to look at him, reaching her hand up to gently pull down the mask from around his jaw.

"Hi."

"Hi," he replied, softly, craning his neck to lightly kiss her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired, just want to lay down."

"Done," he said, quickly sweeping Sakura's legs out from underneath her. Kakashi caught her easily, and Sakura burrowed her cheek into his shoulder.

"Where have you been?" she asked curiously, as he carried her into the bedroom.

"Lady Tsunade had some things she wanted to say to me before I left," he said, carefully letting her drop to her feet next to the bed. She began straightening out the blankets and pillows, which were still in disarray from the night before. When it was neat enough for her liking, Sakura climbed between the sheets and patted the spot next to her expectantly.

"Did she make a threat on your life?'

"Yes, actually."

"Sounds about right."

Kakashi rested one knee on the edge of the mattress, leaning against the bed as he weighed the choice of whether to tell her or not.  _Well,_ he thought,  _she'd be angrier to find out on accident._

"She realized what's going on," he said, sliding next to Sakura under the blankets.

"With what, this?" she asked, shaking her wrist in the air.

"No, ah-," he wormed around uncomfortably, looking at the ceiling. "I mean with the two of us."

Sakura sat in stunned silence for several seconds, before dropping her face into her hands and groaning.

"God fucking hell," she seethed, before devolving into a less intelligible, but no less stressed, string of profanities.

"Tsunade didn't seem to be angry with you about it," he said, trying to soothe her.

"Let me guess, she wants  _you_  forcibly castrated."

"She wasn't so vivid with the details, but she did make herself clear, yes."

Sakura lifted her head from her hands, pulling the damp towel from her hair and running her fingers against her scalp.

"I guess most of my life is just a massive shitshow."

Kakashi pulled off his vest and headband, dropping them onto the ground beside the bed.

"Tsunade only wants you to be happy, Sakura."

She sighed. Maybe  _Tsunade_ wanted her to be happy, but not everybody was guaranteed to share that opinion. People in this town could be ugly, vicious gossipers and good god, what if the news made it all the way  _out to her mother_ in the Land of Tea? Sure, they didn't really talk, but Mebuki would never pass up this kind of opportunity to comment on her daughter's lifestyle.

"Are you happy, Sakura?" Kakashi asked, voice quiet and shy in the dimness of Sakura's bedroom.

Sakura blinked a couple of times, mind coming back to the present. She turned to look at him.

Kakashi looked like a frightened child, scared of being rejected, scared of being alone. His eyes were wide, shining, pleading. Sakura raised her hand to cup his jaw, thumb stroking affectionately against his cheek. She smiled, feeling the slight scratch of his stubble against the pads of her fingers.

"With you, I feel the best I've ever been."

Sakura leaned in close and kissed him. Kakashi's arms circled around her, holding her close as their lips brushed together.

Sakura could live in these moments forever.


	17. Massacre

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning: Violence and gore, at its worst in the section right after the waterfall.

The cicadas owned the night, an enthralling scream beneath a glowing full moon.

Wind brushed delicately through the trees, branches swaying as someone flitted into the highest limbs of the pines.

"Have you led the young children away?"

"Yes, they're far away by now. Although I don't know why we bother," said the shadow as it landed on the branch, braid swinging as she came to a stop. "The Villages never afforded us such kindness."

"It is Ichiro-sama's kindness to extend. Not ours to understand or withhold," the other replied.

"I know that. I led them away, didn't I? With dreams of puppies and kittens. They should consider themselves lucky when they wake in the village upstream."

"No one is lucky in this war, Manami. No one in this world is. Now. It is time."

The smaller woman stepped off of the branch she stood upon, plummeting to the ground in freefall.

* * *

Kōyō laid on his back on the thatched roof of his mother's house, watching the stars twinkle merrily in the sky. The air here, so close to the coast yet still bordered by verdant forests, was alive with the sounds of cicadas and far-away crashing waves. He sat up, reaching high above his head and cracking the discs along his spine. Kōyō yawned and rubbed absently at the messy black hair atop his head.

His attention was caught by something just out of the corner of his eye, something that slithered around the corner of the neighbor's cottage.

 _Not another one,_ he thought to himself, thinking of the fat black python that had been found curled in a barrel of potatoes the week before. He slid off of the roof, landing on a bale of hay stacked beside the only door of the house. Kōyō picked up the iron nata that leaned against the wall, rolling the grip around in his palm. Ever since his fourteenth birthday, these were the kind of things he was expected to do, to look after his mother and toddler sister. Swinging the sharp tool back and forth in his hand, Kōyō rounded the side of the neighbor's home.

There was no snake in sight. He peered through the grass, seeing no trace of any python, no trail through the dewy moonlit glow of the grass.

There was a rustling behind him.

Kōyō turned, nose brushing within a hair's breadth of a gray cloak. Eyes flicking up, he saw a pale white face, hidden mostly in darkness, with lips that shone a heinous red in the night. Fear throttled the poor boy where he stood. For a second, he was frozen, before he turned on his heel and tried to escape.

"Ah, sweet boy, it is useless to run."

He was stopped cold by a small hand, digging savagely into his throat. Tiny pearls of blood oozed from where fingernails pressed into skin.

Hellish eyes glinted; coppery hair eerily bright against cocoa skin. The woman, although so much shorter than him, held him an inch above the ground as she stared deeply into his eyes. She bit her thumb, blood beginning to run down the side of her wrist. It sparkled like the stars above, hypnotizing Kōyō's tear-filled eyes.

"Blood Release: Living Doll Jutsu."

She smeared her blood across his forehead, tracing a warm, wet circle between his eyebrows and crossing it with a line from temple to temple. As drops of thick, red liquid dripped down the sides of his nose, the effervescent sparkle faded into his skin. The boy's eyes rolled back into his head, the hatchet-like tool in his hand falling to the ground.

She dropped him to his feet, where he stood silently, unaware of his surroundings and unaware of himself.

"You're never any fun, Saya."

"We have many more than him to attend to before morning. There is no point in wasting time. You have your own duties, do you not, Manami?"

Saya leaned forward, flipping the heavy bundle on her back over her shoulder and onto the grass with a meaty thump.

Manami squinted her eyes in disgust, taking the cue to leave. As she stomped away, a cold, dry mist swirled around her, long braid writhing as it trailed behind.

Saya sighed, squatting heavily on her heels and delicately peeling away the layers of wrapping.

"Good evening, brother. It is good to see your face again."

* * *

Sasuke and Ichiro sat on a high rock cliff, overlooking the crashing waves dozens of feet below. Salty spray drizzled across their bare chests, mingling with their sweat as they cooled off.

"It does not escape my notice that you have not attempted to learn a Blood Release skill, Sasuke."

The younger man  _hmph_ ed, shrugging with boredom.

"I have no interest in sharing this dōjutsu, not with anyone," he said, staring into the churning water. Sasuke had discovered, once upon a time, that he could smear his blood into someone's eyes, turning them into a walking video broadcast that Sasuke could maintain at any distance. But the idea of sharing his Sharingan with anyone, in any capacity, was highly off-putting.

"That matters little at this point. You have the blood of the Uchiha, and now the chakra of the Ketsu. You will be invaluable in the war to come."

"And what exactly is it that is coming?" Sasuke asked, careful to sound as aloof as usual.

Ichiro took a deep breath, eyes searching for something on the star speckled horizon that no one but he could see.

"The Villages will suffer as they have made us suffer. They will bleed as they have made us bleed. The Villages have destroyed my people. Now we will destroy them."

Ichiro stood abruptly, walking away from Sasuke without a word. Sasuke watched after him as the older man weaved through the maze of stone pillars towards the burned-out husk of his childhood home.

* * *

One by one, dazed villagers followed the lacelike trails of Manami's mist, trapped in an inescapable sleep. They ambled into an awkward circle, Saya stopping in front of each one to swipe thick, chakra-enriched blood across their foreheads, trapping them within her own jutsu. Saya watched with vague interest as Manami crawled out of an open window, nails embedded in the walls as she scaled down the side of the house. Moments later, a vacant-eyed man, trapped within a genjutsu, stumbled out of the doorway, a pitchfork lolling about in his loose fist. He fell into line, obediently receiving his own bloody mark.

Saya finished, turning away and licking the remaining blood greedily from her palm.

"Are we nearly ready, sweet Manami?"

The black-haired woman slithered into place beside Saya, her smile a haunting slash across her face.

"They'll wake up soon, screaming for their babies."

"Good," Saya said, her airy voice becoming lead as the moment approached. She twisted her wrists, fingers flexing, causing the line of villagers, all armed with farming tools, to stand at rapt attention. "Be sure no one escapes."

Manami nodded, fading away into the night.

Saya retreated to the center of the haphazard circle, kneeling next to the dark figure laid on the ground. She lowered her palm to its throat, hand pressing against a deep, peculiar scar that ran the width of the neck. Chakra crackled between her fingers, an acrid burning smell rising to claw its way into her nose and up behind her eyes.

"Blood Release: Living Dead Jutsu."

Eyes opened, empty. Void. The only thing there were clouds.

"Wake up, brother," she said, pinky finger curling oddly. The figure began to rise.

"Tonight, we begin our pursuit of justice, Akio. I promise you this."

Saya patted the corpse-puppet's arm affectionately, refusing to allow any tears to fall. Not now. This would be a victory. This would be a study in righteousness.

Her teeth creaked out from behind a sickly smile as a desperate, searching scream echoed throughout the darkness.

* * *

Sasuke followed Ichiro through the lines of destroyed houses, age-old ash crumbling underfoot.

"You have heard what happened here, have you not?" Ichiro asked, not stopping to look at Sasuke as he spoke, only continuing down his path to the bay at the foot of the island.

"Didn't we all?"

"There is more to every story, if you hear it from enough mouths."

"Hm."

There was a short period of silence as the two men continued on, pebbles rolling downhill before them as their footsteps knocked the stones loose.

"Do you know what it does to a woman to swallow her own child's blood? To have to leave behind the body of the daughter she killed, the last memory being the sight of her organs spilling onto the stones?"

Sasuke didn't reply, sensing it to be the wisest course of action.

"Chi never recovered. She fostered a hate stronger even than my own. She fostered many things that were stronger than I. Women have always been graced with greater strength in the Blood. Such was the case with…Chuya," he said, having to force the dead girl's name from his lips.

"It is no wonder that the Mist tried to force that monster inside of her. She was going to be the heartbeat of the Blood."

Ichiro walked across the small beach that ran across the foot of the island, walking tightly along the wall of stone that jutted from the beach. The Ketsu Isle rose high, high above the surrounding waters, and the exposed stone faces of the side of the island were riveted with waterfalls and small, blind caves. Sasuke followed him, retracing their same steps from earlier that day.

They rounded the edge of the bay, where the sand receded into a thin curve ad banked beneath the largest waterfall. Sasuke was right behind Ichiro as he walked directly through it.

They both stepped through, soaked with water for the second time that day. The hidden cave stretched deep into the shadows, beckoning them forward.

* * *

Saya perched on her toes on one of the hut roofs, fingers twitching a mad dance through the air. Beneath her, a blood bath ensued.

Villagers had come streaming out of their houses, wakened by the first scream of the night. The first wave of them were butchered, as each of Saya's human puppets advanced with their tools and weapons.

The first had been the woman who screamed, her cries for her missing child ripping open the night silence. No sooner did she step out her door than she was dead, Akio's katana removing her skull from her shoulders with little fanfare. The decapitated head rolled in the grass, a trail of blood following it like a snake. Behind her ran a portly middle-aged man, his head whipping back in forth with confusion when he didn't see her standing outside. Saya crooked her ring finger, and Akio advanced before the man could even realize he was standing barefoot in his wife's blood. Cold steel sliced through layers of skin and muscle, fat and organs spilling out over the woman's corpse like a gory funeral shroud. His body fell on top of her, together in death.

Nearby, guttural screams floated into the sky as Saya's fingers continued to twitch. The young boy, the first she had taken into her jutsu, forced his nata into the throat of a woman who had approached him with open arms and a concerned expression. The hatchet tore through her jugular and carotid, crunching through the sternum and ripping open her esophagus. Blood and stomach acid spurted over his face, but he did not blink. A man, yelling unintelligibly, ran up behind him, catching him in a fierce bear hug.

Saya's wrist rolled.

The boy flipped the nata in his palm, the razor-sharp edge now pointed towards himself. He forced the long edge through his own stomach. The blade met resistance, and Saya rolled her wrist again.

The boy put his second hand on the hilt, forcing it through his spine and into the gut of the man behind him.

There was a sick, carrying groan and both fell to the ground, unmoving.

Screams sang out through the village, a twisted hymn for Saya's ears.

In the peripheral of her vision, she saw a young woman trying to run for the forest, the loose cotton of her sleeping robe glowing white in the moonlight. Saya made no move to follow her, allowing Manami the fun of handling her.

And handle her, she did.

The young woman tripped in the grass, falling on her hands and knees. Wet dirt clung to the fabric of her gown as she tried to stand.

A mist rose as she did, pressing on her lungs and forcing her to struggle to breathe.

"Should have stayed in your house, girl."

A fist balled itself in her hair, yanking her forward until she fell, held up only by her hair. Locks of it began to rip out, making her scream until tears poured from her eyes.

"The dolls would have been kinder to you than I."

One long finger, tipped by an ebony claw, tilted her chin up. Two bloody red eyes loomed out of the grey mist, and her eyes rolled back into her head.

Manami dropped the girl to the ground, her face hitting it hard. When she rolled onto her back, moaning, one shiny tooth peeked out of the green grass. Manami bent over and picked it up, twirling it in her fingers appreciatively.

Beneath her, the girl started to writhe, cries of anguish bubbling from her throat. She began to tear at the cotton fabric that covered her stomach, nails ripping through the cloth and scratching at the soft white skin of her belly. Manami watched as the girl tore through her own flesh, pulling at her intestines until they piled around her, blinded by visions of centipedes crawling through her gut.

Wet gurgling noses died on her lips as the life left her body. Manami pocketed the tooth, turning on her toes and walking slowly back toward the village. Screams reached her ears, carried on a breeze heavy with the scent of blood and urine.

Manami smiled.

Their suffering was sweeter than birdsong to her ears.

* * *

The cave opened into a dusty cavern, lit by the feeble streams of moonlight falling through the cracks in the cave ceiling.

Rows upon rows of rough-hewn shelves lined the claustrophobic room, stacked with grimy jars marked with red kanji that spelled out family names. Sasuke controlled his face, trying not to let his disgust show. The Ketsu family tradition of saving urns of blood, instead of ashes, was not one he had been keen to learn about.

Leaned against the far wall, only brought there by Ichiro and Sasuke today, was the massive stone slab that had once served as the entrance of Ketsuekigakure. They had carefully broken it from the stone roots that held it in the half-drained lake, lugging it back to the Ketsu Isle with extreme delicacy. Ichiro had stressed that to break the Seal, would be to risk death for all of them that were bonded to it. The simultaneous release and reclaiming of the shared chakra would likely kill them all. Yet to leave it there, knowing that the Villages knew it location, was even more of a death wish.

Before it lay an unconscious young man, in his early 20's a most, bound with several coils of rope. Sasuke tried not to look at him.

Ichiro knelt next to the man, a boy really, readjusting the skewed collar.

"The shinobi Villages, they hoard their power. They hoard their wealth. The people in their own countries starve, while they massacre the poor in others. They use children as weapons and profit from the deaths of millions. The Mist destroyed my family, and I swore revenge. Yet Chi thought larger, saw clearer. It was not only the Mist who had killed us. Not only the Mist who turned Chuya into a mindless demon. All of the Villages are complicit, Hidden Beasts who labor with monsters and drown the people in their birth waters. All of them must be bled out before the people can live without fear, without threat of annihilation at the whims of living war machines."

Ichiro gripped the unconscious man by his shoulders, dragging him until he was propped against the slab of the Blood Seal. He pulled again at the collar, spreading it and exposing the pale skin of the man's throat.

"Even the last war cost the lives of millions, and it wasn't nearly so rife with infighting. Even together, the Villages cannot be trusted. The Kage are weak, spineless bureaucrats who have turned violence into religion."

Sasuke tried not think about how much he agreed with that statement, of how true the comment on the Kage's ineptitude really rang. He loathed remembering the most cocky, hormone-fueled moment of his teenage life, strolling into the Five-Kage summit on the ceiling. Sasuke couldn't decide which was more ridiculous, the fact that he had decided that that was a suitably dramatic entrance, or that the five "strongest ninja" in the land had let it go entirely unnoticed.

"Yet even so, as pathetic as they may be, it will take all of the power we can possibly harbor to defeat them."

Ichiro squatted beside the sleeping man, biting his index finger until a steady flow of blood began leaking down the digit and beginning to draw symbols all around his unconscious body.

"It's ironic, really. I seek to strip the shinobi villages of their power, to liberate the people and honor the sacrifice of death made by so many of my brethren. By my sister, by my niece, even as young and innocent as she was. Yet in order to hold a candle to the bonfire of their strength, I must hoard my own power, create my own army, make my own blood sacrifices. Chi's power, her blood that seeped into this stone, it births monsters all on its own. Tell me Sasuke, do you think we can survive this war without becoming the very Beasts we have sought to destroy?"

Sasuke did not speak, only watching with tired, empty eyes as Ichiro finished with his bloody scrawl. He brought his finger to his mouth, sucking bits of sand and grit from the wound. Ichiro reached into the folds of his hakama, pulling out a small, fine blade of polished steel.

"Blood Release."

Ichiro dragged the tip of the stiletto through the man's throat, a soft spurt of chakra-lit blood landing across his unflinching face. Ichiro licked the spray from his lips and the blood began to flow onto the stone Seal, unhindered by the laws of gravity. Hot blood spread through every etch of the Seal, emitting a radioactively red glow. The Seal hungrily absorbed the rivers of blood and chakra

Ichiro stood, swiping the sleeve of his kimono over his face. He looked at the morbid stain, a pained, manic look in his eyes.

"This is where Chuya came to cry when her father died. Fitting that so much more suffering should live here."

* * *

Saya tapped her first two fingers rhythmically against her thigh, watching the last of her living puppets, a skinny teenager, maul the Villagers to death. Manami sat beside her on the roof, watching with a disturbing glee as the tiny girl whirled around, hacking at the limbs of the only two men left alive. The heavy cleaver chopped into forearms and shoulders, splitting tendons and unleashing torrents of blood. One fell, and then the other, corpses slick with blood and terror. The girl stopped moving, standing limply and wavering on her feet.

"Ah, the pleasure of success is also so sweet, is it not?" Saya asked as she tweaked the fingers on her other hand.

"…Yes," Manami mumbled, face suddenly drawn into a tight grimace as she watched the striding corpse of Akio approach the girl, striking her straight down the middle of her skull. She thumped to the ground, brain matter leaking onto the fresh corpses of her own victims.

"I am sorry you do not like to see the face of our fallen brother."

Manami made a noise not unlike vomiting, sliding down the side of the roof and onto the ground. Saya followed close behind, already retrieving a fat roll of bandage wrapping from her hip pouch.

"I  _hate_  to see it. I'm reminded that he died at the hands of the Leaf whore. I'm reminded that he cannot rest. I look at him and remember that I've lost every person I've ever loved to those fucking Villages," she said, screaming at the rising sun and disrupting the dawn silence.

Saya snapped her fingers, Akio's puppet corpse dropping to the ground and curling into the fetal position. "May it remind you that we have so much more to do, Manami," she said, beginning the tedious process of wrapping the puppet into a bundle.

"I will  _never_  forget," Manami replied, spitting each word like a curse. She stepped beside the still-warm corpse of an old man, the blood steaming in the cool morning air. She stuck her hand inside of the gaping wound in its chest, coating her hand in the blood that pooled around the shredded heart. She approached the side of an empty hut, painting on the wood with gruesome script.

Somewhere, a rooster began to crow.


	18. Home Visits

Sakura woke up the next morning, every muscle in her body screaming with pain. The second her eyes opened, they were spilling over with tears, small mewls of pain spilling out of her mouth. She tried to roll over, and the ache that pulsed in her side felt like a knife to the gut. Sakura bit into her pillow, trying and failing to hold back a yell.

Kakashi was up immediately, hair disheveled and hands waving around stupidly in the air as he tried to figure out what was going on. When he saw Sakura, crunched into the fetal position and clutching her stomach, his shoulders sagged. He knew this was coming – after the adrenaline finally wore off, all of the muscle strain and accumulated injury of the day before hit her all at once and without warning.

"What can I do?" he asked, voice thick with pity.

"There are painkillers…in my medic kit… the bathroom, please," she gasped, trembling under the blankets. "They have Tsunade's seal on them."

There was the faintest  _whoosh_ as Kakashi rushed to the bathroom and back. He cracked open the orange plastic bottle and handed her two of them. Sakura, in too much pain to worry about anything as trivial as water, crunched through them and dry swallowed. The bitter, chalky residue in her mouth could wai- oh. Never mind.

Kakashi disappeared and reappeared again, moving too fast for Sakura's groggy, exhausted eyes to follow, this time bringing a glass of water. She rinsed her mouth thankfully, happy to have the taste off of her tongue before it made her vomit. Sakura handed the glass back to him and collapsed back into her pillows.

"Thank you, really."

"No problem," Kakashi replied softly, climbing back into bed beside her. "How long before they begin taking effect?

"No clue, it's something new Tsunade formulated in the lab. Ossy…oxy-something. I'm not sure. Maybe twenty minutes?"

"Hm."

Sakura burrowed her head into his chest, unable to focus on anything but the pain that locked her muscles together. She fell asleep quickly, the painkillers releasing into her bloodstream.

She only woke up two more times that day. Once, to stagger to the door and let Shizune in to drop off more scrolls (how  _many_  of them can there even  _be?_ ) and collect a blood sample, before passing out again on the couch, too tired to make it to her bed. The second time, when Kakashi was climbing in through the balcony, and gently scooped her off of the sofa and carried her to bed, handing her two tablets and a glass of water before she could think to ask. Sakura was asleep almost immediately, already snoring by the time he slid under the blankets and hooked an arm around her. He watched her sleep, tucking a loose strand of pink hair behind her ear, and kissed her forehead as softly as he dared.

* * *

She woke up the next morning still sore, but manageably so. The more pressing issue was the sweat that clung to every pore of her skin and made the sheets stick to her like wet paper. Sakura sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the mattress, leaning over her lap and coughing dramatically.

"On the nightstand."

Sakura looked over, seeing a tall, icy glass of water dripping with condensation on the wooden tabletop to her right. She snatched it up, draining it without taking a breath.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"What time is it?"

"Almost noon."

Sakura coughed again, loosening the film of stale saliva in her throat.

"I haven't had cotton mouth this bad since Shikamaru's last birthday par-"

"I'm just going to pretend like I didn't hear that and don't know what any of it meant."

Sakura laughed, looking at Kakashi. He was sitting in the small armchair that nestled into the corner of her bedroom, reading a thin book. Sakura managed to see which it was before he slipped it into his pocket:  _Beneath the Cherry Trees._ She was pleasantly surprised – she didn't know he read poetry, or  _anything_  other than porn, for that matter.

"What are you talking about? I haven't said a thing. And if I did, it was an apology for how boring your life must be," she replied, standing up. Sakura stretched her arms over her head, joints sounding off like a fireworks display. The ache had lessened, but now she was hindered by stiff and uncompromising muscles. She sighed heavily, plucking at her sweat-drenched clothing.

"My life isn't  _boring._ I just focus on my career," he said, haughtily.

"That's a likely story, I'm sure," she said, trying not to laugh.

"Was I hallucinating, or did Shizune come over at some point?" Sakura asked, walking over to her dresser and rifling through it for cleaner, cooler pajamas.

"No, that was real. She came for blood samples yesterday, so I wouldn't be surprised if she came again today."

"I feel like a human pincushion. I wish I was you, and could manage to get away with refusing treatment."

"Have I ever actually gotten away with it? Somehow I always end up being harassed by at least  _one_  medic."

"How many times do I have to tell you, Kakashi?" she asked, pulling on clean cotton shorts. Sakura turned and approached him, climbing in his lap and tucking her head beneath his chin. "Insisting that you let me set your broken bones does not count as harassment."

"Says the person who gets a sick pleasure from setting broken bones."

"That's called having pride in one's work."

"Likely story," Kakashi said, chuckling softly. He kissed the top of her head, nose nuzzling in her hair. Before Sakura moved, he cradled his arms around her and stood, carrying her out of her bedroom and dropping her carefully on the couch.

"When did you last eat?" he asked, looking at her with an almost accusatory look.

"Umm…" she mumbled, trying to remember. "How long was I out for?"

"You have to take care of yourself, Sakura, not just other people," Kakashi said, chastising her lightly as he walked around the couch and into her kitchenette. Sakura crossed her arms over the back of the couch and leaned on her chin, watching him rummage through cabinets.

"Do you even know how to cook?"

"I won't burn the building down, if that's what you're asking."

"It's reassuring, but I still want to know if you can make anything edible."

"My answer is still that I won't burn the building down."

Sakura rolled her eyes and snorted, turning back around on the sofa and settling into the cushions. On the coffee table in front of her was a pile of scrolls and documents she hadn't seen before. Or maybe she had, if the fuzzy memory of Shizune at her front door was actually real; udging by the small red mark in the crease of her elbow, it was. She reached down and opened one, beginning to skim through the sentences inside.

This one held nothing particularly interesting, just a written record of a mission undertaken by some Blood-nin by the name of Mamiko. Sakura rolled the parchment back into a tight scroll and dropped it on the table, unfurling another.

"Anything helpful?"

"Unfortunately, no," she replied, rolling it up and tossing it back to the coffee table. Kakashi strolled over, carrying a plate that she couldn't see the top of from her prone position on the couch. "So, is it edible?"

"Is the house burned down?" he replied flippantly, handing down the plate. Sakura took it, relieved to see a fried egg, only slightly burnt around the edges.

"There's really no need to tease me like that," she said, taking the fork he offered and immediately wolfing down the scant breakfast. "I'd even say it tastes good."

"I'm glad you're impressed by the full extent of my cooking abilities."

"I'll teach you to make rice if you want, Kakashi."

"Many have tried, none have succeeded."

"And here we go again, with the unnecessary dramatics," Sakura said, failing to hide her giggles behind her hand.

"And again, with the unprecedented sass," he replied, taking the plate back to the kitchen sink. When he returned, Sakura was flicking through the scrolls, every so often picking up a new one and dropping it in her lap. She decided she was satisfied with her selection just as Kakashi dropped onto the couch. He swung his legs up and over, draping them over the opposite armrest and across Sakura's lap.

"Hey!" she cried, when his ankles knocked all of her neatly stacked scrolls out of her lap and onto the floor. Sakura eyebrow twitched, arms gesturing angrily. Kakashi was rolling his eyes and reaching over, obliging her, when the doorbell rang.

They both froze.

"I've never heard someone ring the doorbell," Kakashi said, mask already in place over his mouth. Sakura was startled, caught off guard to see his face covered as such, as used to seeing it as she was.

"Only Shizune does. How did you not hear her coming?" she asked, slowly moving to stand up, leaning heavily on the arm of the couch.

"I don't assume that every person on the stairs is coming here. You do have neighbors, after all."

"Remind me to move, please," she said, moving for the door.

"Noted," he said, slowly inching backward towards the cracked balcony door. "I take it this is my cue to leave?"

Sakura sighed, looking back and forth between Kakashi and the door.

"Well…if Lady Tsunade knows, Shizune might as well know," she said chewing her lip. She looked at the wavering Kakashi, shrugging her shoulders. "You can just sit back down; we should just get this over with."

He did so awkwardly, body still prepared to run if need be.

"Well she's definitely going to think it's weird if you look like you're being held hostage. Read a book or something, it's only weird if we make it weird."

Sakura looked at him pointedly, eyebrows raising with annoyance as another string of soft raps landed on the other side of the door. Kakashi threw his hands up in a "Okay, fine!" type of gesture, and Sakura turned around, exasperated.

_Why are men so difficult?_

She squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

"Morning, Shizune," Sakura said, smiling as cheerily as she could manage. She propped her hand on her hip, arching over and cracking several vertebrae along her back. She straightened, feeling much better.

"Uh, good afternoon Sakura…," she said, lifting one shaky finger with an aura of both shock and embarrassment. "Good afternoon, Kakashi," she continued, eyes flicking back and forth between them. Sakura did a quick turn, to again see Kakashi sprawled on the couch with open book in hand. She almost choked when she realized, that although his face was still covered by the book, he had pulled his mask down and pooled it visibly around the base of his neck. She had told him to act  _normal_ , not do what amounted to a striptease! She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, putting a hand on her stomach to center herself.

When her palm met bare skin, her shoulders sagged.

Of course, she was only in a sports bra. Of course, Kakashi's face was an incriminating degree of visible. Of course, Shizune was carrying a sterile blood kit, neatly labeled with Sakura's name and a complex array of seals. Of course, her life was specifically designed to always be awful.

"Well, I guess there's something to be said for a first impression," she muttered to herself.

"What's that?" Shizune asked, still politely waiting on the other side of the threshold.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Sakura said, turning around again and flapping her hand dismissively in the air. "Come in, you're here to collect more samples, I assume." Shizune passed her, through the doorway, and Sakura shut it behind her.

"That's right. It's best if you lay on the couch, but…" Shizune said, trailing off as she looked at Kakashi, bare feet dangling off the armrest, a blush rising in her cheeks.

Sakura rounded the other armrest, swatting the back of his head until he got up. Kakashi rose to his feet gracefully, keeping Icha Icha artfully covering his face from Shizune's eyes. As he moved, Sakura caught a glance of his profile, and he stuck his tongue out at her. She snorted, taking a seat on the couch and patting the cushion next to her, motioning for Shizune to sit beside her.

"You could have just asked me to move, you know," he said, drawling on as he turned the page in his book. Sakura rolled her eyes at him.

"I was trying to avoid any snide comments, actually."

"Oh, then you did an outstanding job."

"Shizune, please, I'm begging you, stick me. It's better than listening to him anymore."

Shizune finally laughed, relaxing a little. She opened the blood kit, rubbing her hands down with hand sanitizer and snapping on a pair of plastic gloves. Sakura leaned back, kicking her feet over the back of the couch to elevate her feet.

Shizune tightened a tourniquet around Sakura's bicep, rolling her thumb around to find the vein. It was easy, she noted, as Sakura's veins bulged and thrummed powerfully beneath the skin. Shizune prepared the tubing, attaching the vacuum clamp to the first of multiple tubes in a rack, making Sakura's head ache with annoyance. What was it she had called herself before, a human pincushion? How about a human tree, jabbed over and over again for her sap until the people were pleased?

Ew.

Sakura took a deep breath and squeezed her fist as Shizune slid in the needle. Shizune then released the tourniquet, and that same sparkly blood began to flow down the tube taped to Sakura's extended forearm, like a hot worm draped across her wrist. Sakura relaxed as the blood began to collect in the vial, thinking about what she might have for lunch.

"Ugh."

Kakashi made a noise of absolute disgust, walking all the way to the kitchen table to be as far away from all of this as possible, keeping his jaw dutifully hidden.

"For a big bad shinobi, you sure are a BABY!" she called out after him, earning a quick flash of his stuck-out tongue before he sat and continued to read.

Sakura turned back to face Shizune, a dumb smile on her face.

"You seem very happy today," Shizune said, watching closely as the vial filled with blood.

"Yeah, well…you know," Sakura said, fumbling her way to a coherent sentence. "I didn't have to cook my own breakfast this morning, so that was nice," she continued, waving her hand at Kakashi absently. Shizune followed her hand's movement, before quickly snapping her face forward. Shizune blushed bright red, looking straight down at Sakura's hands as she switched out the filled vial for a second one. Sakura's eyebrow quirked, then both shot up as she gasped.

"No, oh no, no I didn't mean like, I mean, actually, but, well, he-" she stammered, going on for an embarrassingly long time as Shizune handled the vials, labeling and storing them as each filled.

"Tsunade may have mentioned that I could stumble into something like this, actually," Shizune answered, looking back up at Sakura with a much calmer look on her face. "I really didn't think I was going to blush like that, but," she said, leaning in to whisper urgently into Sakura's ear where Kakashi couldn't hear, "I've never seen so much of his  _neck_  before!"

Sakura startled giggling, tears squeezing at the corners of her eyes. For some reason, that was the funniest thing in the world.

"The first time I saw his mouth, I swear to God, I tried to eat him alive," she whispered back, tone conspiratorial. She and Shizune dissolved into laughter, so much so that Shizune had to remove the needle. Kakashi flicked one eye to squint at them suspiciously. They both turned to look straight forward, trying not to choke as they swallowed their laughter.

Shizune sat up straight and neatened the front of her kimono, cleaning up her supplies. As she was putting away each vial, she stopped to swirl the blood in one of them.

"If your blood never coagulates in this vial, and the bound chakra never releases…what's the point? What can be done with it?"

Sakura leaned in closer to look at the little glass tube of her own blood, lit from within with an opalescent glow.

"I'm not sure. It's not like I can do anything with it," she said, taking the vial and holding It for a moment, before handing it back. "My awareness and control of the chakra in this sample is already gone."

"Ketsu Chi swallowed the jinchūriki's blood, and she absorbed that chakra. Maybe that's possible here," Shizune commented, sliding the vial into place with a satisfying clink.

"Are you suggesting I drink my own blood? Absolutely not. Blood magic is fucked up enough of an idea as is, we're not going to make all of this about  _vampires_."

"Well, of course not! That's disgusting." Shizune said, "And far too easy an explanation, I would think." She shut the blood kit neatly and activated the web of seals.

"Then what are you trying to say?" Sakura asked, curious.

"It's viable chakra. It's very potent, I'd think it'd be useful for  _something._ "

Sakura drew her knees to her chest and propped her chin on them, mulling it over as Shizune prepared to leave.

"Not anything I know how to do," she said, eyes trailing after Shizune as she went to the door and opened it.

"Don't worry, Sakura. I know that you can do this, I've seen you face worse odds in tighter spots," she said, beginning to close the door behind her. "Have a good afternoon, Sakura. You too, Kakashi."

Sakura sighed, leaning back against the cushions with a loud exhalation of breath.

"Yo."

She opened her eyes and looked up, to see Kakashi standing over her and looking down.

"Hi."

"That was quite the melancholy sigh there," he said.

"I'm a medical marvel, apparently. And to be completely honest, I don't like being on this side of the doctor-patient relationship."

"Hm," he said, leaning against the back of the couch. "Now you see why I avoid all the hassle."

"I refuse to humor your suicidal tendencies."

"They could be more accurately described as avoidance tendencies."

"I won't humor any of  _those_  either."

"So I've heard, you  _have_  already threatened my life in the event that I try."

Sakura reached up above her head, snagging the neck of his shirt and pulling him down to her level.

"And I'll do it again, so don't test me," she said, the smile on her lips betraying the threat in her words. She kissed him, softly, savoring the feeling of his soft lips against hers.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he replied when she released him.

"Good." Sakura leaned forward to collect her disarray of scrolls, again piling them in her lap to read at her discretion. She unrolled one, scanning through it with relative disinterest. After a moment, she looked up with a confused expression, looking to either side of her. She then turned all the way around, careful not to knock anything out of her lap, and looked at Kakashi.

"What are you doing?"

He had turned to look at the kitchen, head cocked at an inquisitive angle.

"Wondering whether it's worth the risk to try to cook something."

"You've made tea and an egg, so far I have no reason to doubt you."

"I have 39 years of reasons to doubt my skills around a stove," he said, warily.

"You're the one who hounded me and Naruto into eating like responsible adults. How are you like this?"

"I don't have a kitchen, Sakura, where would I cook? I eat healthy, nutritious meals, that I happen to buy from someone else. It's called participating in the economy."

Sakura sighed, throwing her hands in the air with defeat.

"You're impossible. Here," she said, leaning over the side of the couch to point at her hip pouch, dropped lazily on the sideboard beside the front door. "There's a few hundred ryō in there, go get some dinner and participate in the economy. And remind me to tell  _you_ to move. No kitchen? Get it together," she said, teasing him good-naturedly.

Kakashi calmly walked over and picked up the pouch, holding it open so Sakura could rifle through it for her wallet and retrieve the money. He took it from her, not even vaguely trying to hide his triumph, considering this was surely what he had been gunning for all along. Hatake Kakashi, the emperor of free eating.

She gave him a light peck on the cheek, yelling "You better bring home mochi!" after him as he went out the door.

Sakura settled back into her seat, again unrolling, scanning, and dropping scrolls that had no use for her. They seemed to just be more scrolls sent by Sasuke to give the Leaf a thorough understanding of what to expect from the Blood, mission reports and the like. Little of it held any real meaning to her.

That was until she found one, still completely sealed, with Sasuke's familiar scrawl on the outer parchment.

Sakura slipped her nail beneath the free edge of the scroll, picking through the dry wax that held it together still. It unrolled into her lap, and she began to read. It wasn't a mission report, not for the blood anyway, but a misallocated description of a mission he had been part of.

_The recent intelligence was correct, and the recovery mission was successful._

_The only recovered remains of Ketsu Chuya were her ashes, as well as her ruby hair pins in a box. The team found them in a storage facility deep underground the Hidden Mist Village. Minimal casualties, no indication that we were recognized or followed._

_It must be noted that the only casualties, occurred as a result of Saya's emotional reaction to finding the ashes. Upon further explanation, I now understand that this method of" preserving" a corpse is a desecration of Ketsu tradition._

Sakura put the scroll down, curious. Why would the Mist have taken any remains back to their own Village, and why would it matter so much what happened with them, unless…

Unless those had been the jinchūriki remains.

Sakura stood up quickly, ignoring the head rush that threatened to knock her down. She strode over to the kitchen table, where disorganized piles of intel still sat. Idly, she wondered if she would ever clean this up. Probably not.

She began to sift through them, eyes scanning over and picking out the pertinent information.

She remembered reading that name before, Ketsu Chuya.

Sakura made a neat pile, heart beating faster as the answer to her half-formed question rose before her eyes.

When Kakashi returned, bags of food in hand, she was sagged over in her lap in one of the chairs, head in her hands. He set the food down onto the table, before squatting beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?"

Sakura looked up, her eyes red, but dry from tears now.

"They forced her to kill her own daughter, Kakashi. Ketsu Chi had to kill her own daughter, and she couldn't even bury the body. No wonder those people want to destroy the Mist, or even all of the Villages. She must have gone mad, she had nothing to mourn over but the blood she swallowed."

Kakashi was caught off guard, almost unable to follow her words as she said them.

"What are you talking about?"

"We all know about the "Bloody Mist" horror stories, but I didn't realize…I didn't know just how insane everyone in the Land of Water is. It's like the whole place is situated over a portal to hell and they're all being poisoned by demonic auras or something," she said, rambling. She was upset, having trouble coming to terms with just how gruesome a story she had suddenly been written into.

"You're going to have to elaborate, at least a little bit."

Sakura fanned out the stack of papers in front of her, tapping each highlighted bit as she spoke.

"The Mist, I knew already that they sent a contingent to force a Tailed Beast into someone of the Ketsu bloodline. They wanted a jinchūriki soldier with the Blood kekkai-genkai for their side in the Third War. Somehow, I glossed over the fact that they came for a child, someone young and impressionable they could bury their ideology in. I just didn't want to think about it. They forced it into an uncontrollable child and destroyed an entire clan, an entire island village, Kakashi," she said, forcing the papers into Kakashi's hands.

"Ketsu Chi defeated that jinchūriki and swallowed its chakra, swallowed its blood, just like Tsunade told us the other day," she said, sentences running on into each other as she chattered on without taking a breath. "But the Mist retrieved the corpse, they took it back to their Village to extract the Three-tails and razed what was left of the island to cover their tracks."

She went to the couch, retrieving Sasuke's mission report and dropping it into Kakashi's hands.

"And for some reason, 17 years later, Ketsu Ichiro sends a Blood squad to search for and retrieve the remains? Why take that risk? Who is important enough to warrant that kind of suicide mission? And who would have had the body strong enough to hold that much volatile chakra, as a child?" Sakura continued, voice raising in pitch as she carried on.

"The six-year-old daughter of the woman who created the Blood Seal to get revenge on the people who destroyed her family, her home, and forced her to murder her child, is who. A six year old  _child._  Are we surprised they want to destroy us all? What have any of the villages done but kill them? What have we done but add insult to injury, desecrating that poor baby girl's corpse in order to keep using Isobu as a weapon against everyone?

Sakura collapsed back into her chair, breathless. Kakashi sat in the one next to her, slowly flicking through each page and taking it in.

"A chain of revenge can't be justified, no matter how much it deserves to be," he said, slowly. Sakura looked at him, tears beginning to pool in her eyes again.

"I know that, I just…they suffered so much. Chi and Ichiro, they started that rogue-nin Village to get justice. It's been twisted into sick revenge but…they just wanted justice. Chi never got it, and neither will Ichiro. Everyone involved deserved better than what they're ending up with, just because of these wars, because of all this greed and power and hate. It's all soaked in blood now."

"You wouldn't be you if you didn't pity the people who are living in pain. It's safe to say that's what makes you who you are."

"If I were them, I'd probably go on a murder spree as well," she said, staring at her cuticles as she picked them apart.

Kakashi cleared his throat, shuffling the papers he held into a tidy stack and letting it fall to the tabletop.

"I did."

Sakura looked up at him, eyes wide.

"I joined ANBU because, realistically, I had no other choice. Both my teammates were dead. No one but ANBU would consider working with me, because of the reputation I had managed to earn, even by then."

"Because the Mangekyō Sharingan was too dangerous."

"No, because they believed I was so damaged by my father's infamy that I was willing to kill a friend in cold blood for the sake of the Village."

Sakura was stunned into silence, staring at Kakashi as he spoke without ever meeting her eyes. She knew about Sakumo's legacy. But she had never considered Kakashi to have any other impetus but the same one his father had held: that those abandon their friends are worse than scum.

"The Mist didn't stop after one attempt at sealing the Three-Tails into someone. In fact, they probably learned from their attack on the Ketsu Isles. They knew there was little to no chance of someone controlling it, so they decided to use it as a bomb instead of a soldier, sealing it into a girl named Rin."

Kakashi's throat caught on her name and forced him to pause.

"She killed herself before that could happen, of course, because that's who  _she_  was. She was training as a medic-nin too, caring for others, putting them first. Putting the safety of others before herself to the point of suicide. Suicide by flying leap onto the Chidori."

"Oh, Kakashi," Sakura said, getting up and moving over to him. She climbed into his lap, knees knocking against her chest, and tucked her head beneath his chin as she hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and continued.

"The Yondaime processed me into ANBU, and not that long later he died during the Nine-Tail's attack, as you probably know already. So I spent ten years as an ANBU operative, doing whatever and killing whoever they assigned me to out of anger and bloodlust. Yet that never solved anything, and I had to move on. These people won't move on, so they need to be stopped."

"I know," Sakura said, softly, into Kakashi's chest.

"It is difficult to fault them though, when I can empathize so deeply."

A tear rolled down Sakura's cheek as she tightened her arms around him.

* * *

The next morning, Sakura woke up feeling significantly less sore. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and she was still deeply entangled in a heinous blood war between the villages and the murderers they had created.

She sighed deeply before she even opened her eyes.

No. Today was going to be a good day. Tomorrow, she planned to undergo a procedure that carried no promises of success. Tomorrow, she basically risked ripping her body apart just so she wouldn't do it to her mind instead.

"This morning, I'm cooking breakfast," Sakura said, loudly. Beside her, Kakashi snorted, not even rolling over to look at her.

"Sometimes I wonder if you act so helpless just so I'll do these things for you."

"I have no clue where you'd get that idea," he replied, as she got up and stretched her arms over her head.

"Me either, which is why you have to help."

Sakura walked around the foot of the bed and up to Kakashi, who was still face down in the pillows. She began poking him in the ribs, urging him to get up.

"Any why would I do that?"

"Because, you're feeling especially happy and want to be nice to me today," she answered, pushing him over onto his back and climbing onto the mattress. Her hands pushed at the edge of his pants, a smile on her face.

"Oh, I am, am I?"

She didn't try to reply, only winking at him as her sinfully pink mouth began to suck.

* * *

 

Kakashi was obediently cleaning up behind Sakura as she cooked, as she had quickly determined that he  _was_ just as bad inside of a kitchen as he had implied. Maybe it was a miracle he hadn't burned her house down yesterday.

Sakura set the table, bowls of rice and miso soup alongside a dish of grilled fish. More of a lunch than a late breakfast, but hey, they had been busy.

"Go ahead and sit, Kakashi," she said, gently pushing him towards the table with her hip as she took the cast-iron to the sink, scraping it clean and giving it a thorough wipe down before returning it to its hook above the stove.

Sakura was about to sit down to eat when Kakashi said, "No, not yet."

"Why not?" she asked, just before the doorbell rang. She rolled her eyes and went to the door.

Kakashi quickly began eating, slamming as much food down his throat as he could before Sakura could return with Shizune in tow.

"At what point can I expect this to be over with? At this point, you could be depleting my blood supply to dangerous levels, Shizune," Sakura whined, plopping back into her seat. She made a face at Kakashi, seeing how much he had already eaten.

"Unfair."

"Early bird gets the worm, as they say," he teased, taking his dishes to the sink and letting Shizune take his place next to Sakura. Shizune sat down, setting the blood kit onto the table and setting up her work area.

"A few days at most, once we see what happens after Tsunade performs the seal alignment procedure. We need to know that your system doesn't continue suffering from these metabolic abnormalities. Unless your body can maintain homeostasis, your life is in very real danger."

Sakura rolled her eyes, plopping one arm unceremoniously on the table and lifting her chopsticks with the other.

"I promise that I don't take the dangers lightly, Shizune. It's just that my elbow is starting hurt like hell," she said, and popped a piece of fish into her mouth.

Shizune laughed and patted her shoulder affectionately. She then carried through with her usual procedure, the thick steel needle disappearing into the delicate silk of Sakura's skin. Blood flowed like a thick, garishly jeweled ooze through the tubing and into Shizune's waiting vials. Kakashi had to look away with disgust, absolutely unable how Sakura could to that and eat at the same time.

"As far as your blood supply goes, Sakura, I really don't think you need to worry about that. If you're still such an easy stick after four straight days, I'm beginning to believe that your body is handling the loss particularly aggressively. Your bone marrow is replenishing at an amazing rate."

"Oh, you know me, the little bone that could," Sakura said, joking weakly. Internally, she was annoyed. She had no idea what was going on inside of her body, and she couldn't even begin to find out because to perform any healing jutsu now could be dangerous. She just wanted to be in control of her body again.

"This isn't all I'm here for, truth be told. I do have messages for you both, as it so happens," Shizune said, switching from one vial to the next, methodically filling her testing rack.

Sakura turned to look at Shizune expectantly, eyebrows raised.

"Tsunade would like you to come to her office as soon as possible, Kakashi, she needs to speak with you. And I believe, that in lieu of him, she's sending Ino to come look after you today, she's probably on her way now."

Kakashi was, almost immediately, across the length of the apartment and standing with one foot out of the glass balcony door. Running into the town gossip in Sakura's apartment was not his prerogative. Sakura started laughing at him, and Shizune had to worriedly hold her shoulder still so the needle didn't tear the vein.

"I believe that's my call to leave. Ill see you later, Sakura."

Shizune pulled the needle out of Sakura's arm, letting her clutch her stomach as she giggled.

"Please Sakura, I'm trying not to hurt you any worse than this already does," she said, packing up her things.

"I'm sorry, it's just," she said, gasping through her giggles. "He can be so funny once he lets you get to know him!"

Shizune smiled as she headed for the door, Sakura following behind, still laughing.

"I'm glad he makes you so happy, Sakura."

"Yeah, I really lo-" she stopped, coughing thickly on her laughter. "I really like him," she finished, blushing heavily as she shut the door behind Shizune.


	19. Alignment

Sakura had finally finished collecting herself by the time she opened the door for Ino, who came bearing gifts.

"Here, you've been shut up in here so long you need some flowers, the air is too stale," she said, handing off a massive vase of camellia blossoms. "I made sure the arrangement was big enough to balance out your massive forehead."

Sakura kicked the door closed as Ino breezed into the apartment.

"I've missed you too, pig," she said, smiling.

Ino dropped onto the couch, sprawling across it dramatically as Sakura put the flowers on the coffee table and arranged them to her liking.

"Oh, Sakura, I have been dying to talk to you. So much has been going on lately, you have no clue."

Sakura laughed, standing up and stretching.

"I'm pretty sure I saw you a few days ago, Ino."

"That is FIVE business days, Forehead! That's  _years_ in whatever personal bubble it is that you live in."

Sakura went to her kitchen, bringing back glasses of lemonade for the both of them.

"Then you should really get started, then."

Ino took her glass, not so much drinking it as using it to punctuate her sentences.

"Did you know Kiba has a girlfriend that he hasn't been telling anyone about? That they've had a long-distance relationship for god knows how long, and now she lives in the Village? I managed to get it out of Shino after two weeks of making his bugs drag him to the flower shop for the most expensive pollen I've ever stocked, Sakura, and the investment? Worth it," she announced, lifting her glass with triumph and then draining it.

Sakura gasped, leaning forward towards a smug-looking Ino.

"He has a  _girlfriend?_ Where did he find her, a puppy mill?"

"No, this is the best part," Ino said, leaning forward to whisper, relishing the dramatics of the moment. "She breeds neko-nin, Sakura. The girl breeds cats!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"I think that might be the most insane thing I've heard in my entire life."

"It is, isn't it?"

"Their life must be a literal zoo."

"From what I can tell, the two of them are a zoo all by themselves."

This sent both girls into peals of laughter, clutching at each other for support. Sakura gasped for breath, wiping at her eyes. Ino watched her, eyes glinting. She smiled suspiciously, and leaned back against the armrest, looking at Sakura over the rim of her glass.

"And that's not the only thing I've heard, I have something even more interesting that we have to talk about."

Sakura looked at her giddily, not at all expecting the bullet headed straight for her face.

"What's that?"

"I've heard that Kakashi's got some cute young thing on his lap these days. I wonder who the lucky girl is, you know what I'd give to see his face."

Sakura choked, lemonade shooting out of her nose. She coughed, scrubbing at her face with the edge of her sleeve.

"You're around him the most, you wouldn't happen to have any ideas about any of that, would you?"

Sakura shook her head back and forth, still too shocked to make her behavior any less suspicious. Not that it mattered, obviously. Ino already had all the information that she needed. A Yamanaka never asked a question that they didn't already know the answer to, not really.

"No clue," Sakura said, voice bordering on shrill.

"Interesting. Then I wonder," Ino replied, suddenly standing up and facing the couch, using her foot to dig around for something underneath the couch. "What exactly this is?"

The blood drained from Sakura's face as Ino dragged out a crumpled ball of cloth from beneath the couch, a little knot of black thread and pink lace.

Oh. Oh no.

Ino was, literally and metaphorically, exposing her dirty laundry.

 _And_ Kakashi's.

Sakura tried to dive for it, but Ino got there first, ripping the ball of fabric up out from under her hands. She untwisted it, holding one item in each hand and grinning the most predatory smile Sakura had ever seen from someone holding a fishnet shirt and pink panties.

"You really need to take better care of your house, Sakura. Leaving windows open, underwear beneath your couch. You never know who's going to see something they shouldn't."

She shook the panties back and forth in the air tauntingly. Sakura snatched them from her, throwing them across the apartment in the direction of her bedroom.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Ino backed up a step before Sakura could reach out again, taking a peek at the tag on the mesh shirt.

"Oh, he gets his uniforms monogrammed? That's such a cute old man thing for him to do."

"Kakashi would never!" Sakura said, jumping up and yanking the shirt away to look at the tag herself. And sure enough, she was correct. He would never.

"I really would think you'd be better about getting tricked like that, Forehead. Or maybe Shikamaru is rubbing off on me in more than just the normal ways."

Sakura huffed, throwing the shirt in the same direction as the underwear and crossing her arms.

"You are, without a doubt, the most obnoxious and intrusive human being I have ever had the misfortune of meeting."

"You say that, and yet the flowers of our friendship are still in full bloom," Ino said, gesturing grandly at the vase of camellias as she sat back down on the couch.

"I'll throw them off the balcony."

"Make sure to close the door after you do that, or a pesky bird might start spying through the curtains."

Sakura groaned with exasperation and collapsed onto the couch.

"I'll never understand why you are the way you are."

"It's becauuuse, Sakura, you wouldn't tell me who it was you were seeing! I can waste weeks finding these things out about Kiba because I'm not worried about making sure the cat-girl is treating him right. Anyone who thinks about putting their hands on you, however, requires a full and thorough vetting to be sure they're worthy of making the cut."

Sakura rubbed her temples. Ino was an amazing friend, but she just couldn't handle things normally, she had to go around being conniving about it. At least Sakura could be assured that Konoha had no shortage of capable spies on hand.

"So what's the verdict, then?"

Ino put her glass down, suddenly becoming very serious.

"He's not one of our idiots, and he's not really an idiot at all. Kakashi-sensei isn't like other people, he isn't reckless like Naruto or too intense like Lee. You've been teamed up with him since the dawn of freakin' time. It makes more sense than a lot of the other options I was considering."

"Um, what do you mean by other options?"

"I am not above using my influence as Shikamaru's significant other to bring in exotic, delicious diplomats during the chunin exams."

"I don't even want to know who you had in mind."

"I'm beyond positive that underneath that stupid kitty outfit, the Kazekage's brother has all kinds of marketable goods."

"God, Ino, really? Kankuro? His abs might be ripped, but so is his  _brain._ He uses Sasori's body as a puppet! It's horrifying," Sakura said, cringing. Just the way Ino said 'marketable goods' made her want to gag.

"It's not my fault that I have a taste for the unknown."

"You have a taste for anything with a pulse."

"You would know," Ino said, winking.

"Please stop," Sakura replied, blushing.

"Anyway, the point is that, unlike if you were to be bumping uglies with any of the rookies, this particular coupling isn't the kind of thing that needs my impeccable guidance. I know everything about you, and enough about Kakashi, to say that yours is a relationship that was built on communal respect."

Sakura sighed, hovering somewhere between relief and panic. Ino knew, and she wasn't on the rooftops screaming about how stupid this was. But on the other hand,  _Ino knew,_ and that just meant that somewhere, an interdimensional timer was counting down until Ino  _did_ climb the rooftops and scream about it.

"Thank you, I think."

"No, Sakura, I really mean it."

Sakura looked up at Ino, twisting her blonde hair between her fingers and looking into the distance thoughtfully as she spoke.

"You and I both spent a very long time pining over Sasuke, and it wasn't good for either of us. And you, you were so much closer with him than I ever got. Everyone saw how badly it hurt you when he…well, when we thought he had died. Naruto and I were worried that you'd never smile again for a while there. You just spent every day tending to Sasuke's memorial shrine and crying yourself to sleep."

Sakura flinched, not wanting to remember. She began to play with the edge of the pink blanket draped over the back of the couch. Yes,  _that_ pink blanket. Very fitting for the conversation at hand.

"And then Tsunade started sending you along on missions with Kakashi. I was there, working with the secretaries when she decided to do that, you know. She was doing what she always does, asking Shizune what she thought without ever giving her the time to answer. Tsunade wanted you with someone she could trust to keep you safe, but also someone that you cared about enough for it to matter. You wouldn't heal if you didn't feel like you had a family."

Sakura's fingers paused in their nervous dance through the blanket's fringe. Having Kakashi referred to as her family struck a very deep chord inside of her. That thing, the  _thing_ she had almost said to Shizune, floated its way back into the front of her mind.

She pushed it back down.

She wasn't ready for that yet.

Some scars were still too raw.

"And over the past five years, it seems like you've healed a lot. You earned a residency at the hospital. You're almost a jōnin. You're one of the most legendary kunoichi that this Village has ever managed to produce, and you managed all of that on your own because you've had people supporting you. My help was, of course, invaluable," Ino said, taking a moment to sip at her drink with an air of self-appointed regality. "But knowing what I know now, that you and Kakashi-sensei are tighter than a daisy chain, I'd dare to say that you've found someone even more important to you than I am. And Sakura, I think you deserve that more than anyone."

Sakura sighed and leaned against the back of the couch to stare at her ceiling, tears of emotion filling her eyes. Whether they were happy or sad, she couldn't quite tell. She took a deep breath and wiped the heels of her palms against her face.

"He is, like, really amazing."

Ino squealed, jumping on top of Sakura and throttling her in a bone-crushing hug.

"You actually said it out loud!"

* * *

Tsunade was drinking heavily when Kakashi got to her office, surrounded by piles of paper stacked to her shoulders.

"Good afternoon, Lady Tsunade."

"Get in here, Hatake."

Kakashi stepped through the doorway and closed the door behind him, approaching the Hokage warily.

"Shizune said that you sent for me."

"That I did. Hold on," she said, holding one finger up to make him wait. She slugged the last of her drink and then began shuffling through her papers until she found what she wanted.

"We have officially descended into hell, it looks like," she continued, scanning over the document for a moment.

"Well, it certainly sounds ominous when you say it that way."

"Well, it certainly 'sounds ominous' that Sasuke hasn't established contact with us since he left, and the remaining Blood nin have begun attacking border villages."

Tsunade threw the file onto the desk in Kakashi's direction, motioning for him to read over it.

"It looks like they're trying to create a spectacle. They destroyed a farming village on the border of Fire and Water country, and they were kind enough to sign their work."

A stack of photos slid out of the file, and Kakashi flicked through them one by one. Bodies, young and old, twisted over each other. Blood pooling into massive puddles. Organs, mysteriously unencumbered by a human body, stretching over yards of grass stained by bodily fluids. The very last photo was of the side of a house, words painted onto the side with a looping, dripping script. Beneath it was their cryptic insignia, the tick slash through an empty circle.

_It is your turn to bleed._

_We are coming._

"Hm. They're big fans of the theatrics, that's definitely clear."

"They're also fans of children," Tsunade said, holding up another sheet of paper for Kakashi to see. "Every child five or younger was found sleeping on the beach of another village not far up the coast. Mist shinobi determined that they'd been led there by a genjutsu before the massacre began."

Kakashi flipped the file closed and dropped it back on the desk.

"But six and up were fair play."

"You know where they learned that, don't you," Tsunade said, less a question than a statement of fact.

"They're playing by the rules of the Bloody Mist's game."

"Ah, so Sakura has been keeping you apprised of the situation. Good girl, always making my job easier. I should get her a raise." Tsunade paused to refill her cup and take another drink. "You're correct, by the way. Beyond the children, they're fighting a war by themselves, using whatever means they deem necessary."

"How so?"

"There's limited intelligence, and there's only so much of it I'm willing to trust at this point. Mist shinobi are holding the scene so that I can send my own recon squad. What I do know is this."

Tsunade spun her chair around, taking a long drink and staring out over the skyline of Konoha. She could see her people, bustling throughout the streets, enjoying the first autumn breeze of the season without any idea of the threats that leeched their way in from the shadows.

"Sasuke is in the wind, Sakura is on lockdown, and a blood-crazed group of rogue nin is ostensibly planning a mass terrorism plot in search of revenge. There is no longer time to collect intelligence and wait for long-term plans to come to fruition. Whatever must happen, it is going to happen whether we prepared for it or not, and I'll be damned if I don't do everything in my power to protect this Village."

Tsunade spun back around, setting her cup on the desk and looking Kakashi sternly in the eye.

"Tomorrow morning, Sakura is going to undergo a procedure I've designed that will attempt to align her seals. If it succeeds, and that's an uncomfortably big 'if', she can give us at least a partial insight as to what we're facing. Tonight, however, you will be leaving for the Mist, with Yamato and Sai as your team. You'll prepare to leave immediately. I want you, personally, to see what happened in this Village and search for evidence. Find a trail. Start the fucking war they're after, I don't care. This stops, and it stops now."

* * *

Sakura was looking out of her living room window, lost in the twinkling lights of stars, with Ino out cold beside her. They had ordered dinner and an irresponsibly large bottle of wine to the apartment, and Ino had pestered all of the nasty details she possibly could from Sakura until she was satisfied. She had then, almost violently, insisted on watching a tawdry romcom ("We're both boo'd up at the same time Sakura, I've been waiting for this for my entire life-") until she promptly fell asleep, snoring loud enough to wake the neighbors. Sakura had finally given up and carried her into the bedroom, shutting the door and drowning out at least most of the noise so that she could maybe,  _possibly,_ at some point get some sleep on the couch in her own goddamned house.

Until then, though, the stars outside were beautiful.

Sakura was struck by the urge to go onto the balcony to see them clearer, and so she did. Outside, the air was crisp and cool, carrying a breeze heavy with the scent of drying leaves. Fall was her favorite time of year, when the boundless green acres outside of Konoha became speckled with rich reds and oranges. She leaned over the balcony railing, breathing in deeply through her nose. Boundless green with splashes of reds and oranges. She would have to ask Sai to paint her something like that, something she could hang on the wall and always remember how beautiful her home was in the autumn.

"I like your dress."

Sakura looked down at her nightgown, pulling out the hem and doing a little turn. The pastel yellow cotton floated dreamily around her as she spun.

"Thank you. Hinata bought it for me as a birthday gift last year," she said, looking up to smile at Kakashi.

"It looks good on you," he murmured, opening his arms and letting Sakura come to rest her head against his chest.

"I try. Your travel gear looks good on you, by the way."

"Thanks," he said, the word coming out garbled as Sakura reached and slipped his mask down, pulling at his lips. She kissed him warmly.

"I've missed you too," he said when she pulled back, the side of his mouth curling up into a coy smile.

"Shut up," she replied, snuggling her face back into the front of his vest. "So, Tsunade-shishou is sending you on a mission?"

"Looks to be that way."

"Do you know how long?"

Kakashi took a moment before answering. Tsunade had specifically instructed him not to tell Sakura the details, as it would only worry her, and undue stress was the last thing they needed to be handling before the realignment.

"No, not for sure. Probably a day or two, allowing for travel."

Kakashi felt Sakura nod into his chest, fingers twisting lazily in the fabric of his shirt.

"So what were you doing out here this late? You don't want to catch a cold right before Tsunade's procedure."

Sakura wrinkled her nose, not wanting to think about that just now. She was here, right now, pressed against the warmth of Kakashi's body and she didn't want to think about anything else. She wanted this one last bit of peace before things started blowing up in her face, as they were always wont to do.

"I can't sleep."

"Is it because of the airship engine I assume is in your room right now?"

Sakura laughed at that, momentarily distracted.

"Yes, that would be my personal airship. She fell asleep and I didn't feel like waking her up to send her home."

"Why did she stay so late?"

"Umm…"

"That doesn't sound good."

"Well, you know how Ino can be."

"Nosy?"

"I was going to say enthusiastically curious, but you're not wrong."

"I don't like where this is going."

"Well, you told Tsunade!"

"She figured it out on her own. She  _is_  the highest-ranked ninja in the country, after all, I truly cannot be held responsible."

"Yeah, sure you can't. Ino found out on her own too. She used the Mind-Body Transfer Jutsu to spy on us," Sakura said, hand trailing its way up to his neck. The way the moonlight shone over his face, the sharp shadows cutting their way across his features, it all engrossed her.

"What do you mean, spy on us?" Kakashi asked. As far as he was concerned, Ino knowing this was like putting a little candle on top of a mountain of dynamite. This idyllic bubble, free from public judgment and whatever curse it was that ruined everything good in his life, was dangerously close to popping. The idea of losing this, losing Sakura, terrified him.

For some reason, it never occurred to him that things might be going exactly how they were supposed to be; every honeymoon phase eventually comes to its end.

"Mhmm," Sakura mumbled quietly, nuzzling her face into his throat, very close to breaking his will and distracting him. "She used a bird, and she saw us together in the living room the other night, right before we ended up at your place."

"She  _saw?!"_  he hissed.

"Oh, does it really matter at this point?" she asked, voice low and breathy. Sakura leaned in close to his face, speaking each word slowly, deliberately, with hot lips that brushed against his with each syllable. He melted beneath her touch, as her hands pushed past the waist of his pants, nails scratching ever so slightly over his thighs. Her hands roamed beneath the fabric as they kissed, tracing the defined muscle of his hips, teasing around the base of a quickly reacting member with sharp fingernails. Kakashi shuddered, the sensation crawling along his skin and taking control of his body.

He grabbed her by the hips, lifting her onto the concrete ledge of the balcony. She bit his lower lip, kissing him hungrily. Need coursed through her. Desperation coursed through her. He was leaving, in the morning she was playing a game of odds with her life. She needed him, needed him close, needed to feel him and know that he was there, he was hers, he was always going to be hers.

She balanced on the edge, pulling up her knees and the skirt of her nightgown. Kakashi gripped tightly on her hip, other hand moving to the already-damp fabric of her underwear. She mewled as his fingers rubbed against the cloth, not even touching the skin. Sakura covered her mouth, trying to hold in her gasps for breath as the quickened in time with Kakashi's rubbing fingers. He stopped, taking a short pause, tracing one finger delicately against the inner crease of her bare thigh. She sighed quietly with pleasure, hand lowering slightly from her mouth. Then, without warning, Kakashi twisted the fabric in his grip and tore it off of Sakura's hips with brutal force.

She moaned, louder than she meant to, and blushed in the darkness as Kakashi immediately buried his fingers inside of her, curling them against her inner muscles until she shook. Sakura's luridly pink lips seemed to glow in the night, and he kissed her, tasted her. He could feel the hum of her throat as she groaned, a deep and animal noise that made his cock twitch. Her eyes slid closed, wanting to lose herself in every sensation, wanting to feel each twinge of pleasure that twisted her muscles in on themselves.

His one hand still firmly holding her on the ledge by the hip, Kakashi slowly pulled his wet, sticky fingers from between Sakura's thighs. There was a moment's pause, and Sakura began to open her heavy eyelids to see what was happening.

He broke their kiss, almost immediately slipping his Sakura-slicked fingers into her mouth. Her stomach muscled rolled, and she sucked obediently on his fingers, looking up at him through half-lidded eyes. Sakura twisted her tongue over and between his fingers, sucking at them greedily.

Kakashi watched with a heavy gaze as she licked, making her eyes flick to the side with embarrassment as her cheeks flushed bright red.

"You have no idea how fucking undeniable you are," he murmured, his voice husky with need.

Unable to speak with her tongue still toying with his fingertips, Sakura wiggled her spread hips, rubbing the bare, wet skin of her thighs against the bulge in his pants.

Kakashi took his hand from her lips to the front of his pants, aligning himself with Sakura. She wrapped her hand around his, making him move faster, guiding him inside of her tight, warm muscles and clenching around his cock as he began to move. Kakashi took Sakura's hand in his, as she bit her lip and leaned back, leaned back until her hair hung perpendicular to the ground, bouncing lewdly with every deep, slow thrust of his throbbing cock.

Little moans and whispers of satisfaction fled her lips, begging for more, as she lot herself in the feelings of pleasure. Kakashi let go of her hand and began to toy with her clit as he continued pumping in and out, making her muscles clench erratically. He then leaned over, catching one rosebud nipple in his mouth and rolling it with his teeth. Sakura's back arched dangerously off of the ledge, all of her weight held easily by Kakashi's death grip on her hip.

She felt absolutely weightless, looking into the night sky with eyes that couldn't focus, doubling the stars until she was directionless in a field of lights as pleasure wound itself tight between her hips.

Sakura came with a gravelly moan as her orgasm exploded across her body like fireworks, looking into the stars above.

* * *

The next morning, Ino found Sakura bundled into her shuriken-print blanket on the couch, her pink hair sticking out like a jaunty tuft of cotton candy.

"Hey, hey, Forehead. It's time to wake up."

Sakura didn't move, and Ino decided to take a more drastic measure. She plucked a camellia from the arrangement, then leaned over Sakura's sleeping form. Ino pressed the blossom to Sakura's nose, then covered her mouth. After a few seconds, Sakura woke up, sputtering, with the flower stuck in her nostril.

"Yamanaka Flowers wake up call, at your service," Ino said, smiling down at her.

"You're never spending the night again."

"There isn't a single bar in this village that's been able to keep me banned, I doubt you're going to do any better. Now go get dressed, it's time to go see Lady Tsunade."

* * *

Sakura and Ino arrived in the Hokage's office a quarter after nine, to find a waiting Shizune ready to lead them to where the procedure would be taking place.

"Did you sleep well, Sakura?" Shizune asked.

"Just fine. What's the plan?" Sakura countered, cutting to the chase. She wasn't interested in niceties, not when her heart was beginning to race a mile a minute. Fear was crawling its way up her spine, reminding her of the moments that she had lost control. What if that happened here, what if her chakra exploded the way it had before, what if it hurt someone?

"I think I should leave that for Lady Tsunade to explain. There are a lot of moving parts to what's about to happen," she answered, leading them through the second door in Tsunade's office and into the private rooms provided for her as Hokage. They passed what could have passed for a kitchen, save for the messy rows of empty bottles on every available surface, and what must have been her sleeping quarters. Shizune opened the last door on the left, and they walked into a large, open room painted floor to ceiling with a dizzying design of minuscule sealing insignias.

"Good morning, Sakura," Tsunade said, looking up from the thick book in her hands. Ino moved to stand beside her, taking the heavy tome and letting Tsunade approach Sakura.

Tsunade began taking her pulse and checking her vitals, foregoing medical equipment for the surer observations of her own healing chakras. Sakura looked around the room, at a total loss for what Tsunade could possibly have planned. Sakura specialized in healing, she understood the body and its chakra, and she understood medicine. Fūinjutsu like this, however, was far beyond her grasp. She could only recognize the simplest of the signifiers that webbed across the walls and ceiling, ones she knew that were designed to create stable chakra loops and channel the flow along specific chains. Beyond that, it was just a tiny scribble that made her eyes water.

Sakura supposed that was why Ten Ten was already here, along with a very pregnant looking Hinata. Since Sakura had seen her in the hospital the week before, even since just a few days ago in the training fields, Hinata's bump had become considerably more noticeable, her obi now comically framing the roundness of her belly.

"As you can see, I've brought in some help from qualified experts."

Ten Ten stood up and came over to the two of them, smiling reassuringly, with Hinata close behind.

"I've been working on this array for two full days. I can promise that there isn't a single smeared seal anywhere in this web. You're in excellent hands."

"Yes, Sakura-chan," Hinata said, her whispery voice calming Sakura's jumpy nerves. "The Lady Hokage asked me to come and monitor your chakra network, she's really thought of every possibility."

Sakura released a heavy gust of breath and looked up at Tsunade, the worry clear in her face.

"I can't lie to you, we're about to attempt something that I don't think anyone has ever had to try to do before. There's an obviously huge, untapped supply of chakra in your system that is battling with itself as it gets routed through each of the seals, and we have to hope it doesn't react badly to being temporarily chained with more. Now, I need you to get undress from the waist up. Ten Ten has more seals to make."

Soon, Sakura was laid on her back in the center of the room, body in the middle of all the concentric circles. Ten Ten had painstakingly painted strings of seal arks across her shoulders, carefully following the veins that circulated the blood from Sakura's hands to her heart and lungs. Tsunade had traced them for her, explaining the process to Sakura as Ten Ten worked.

The chakra that was channeled by the Blood Seal on her wrist was now bonded to her blood, circulating through her arteries and veins, back and forth from seal to seal. By establishing chains that followed the path of her veins, through her heart and lungs, and then back up to her brain, Tsunade hypothesized that the entirety of the Seal's power could be dragged through Sakura's body.

The effects of the Blood Seal were deeply entwined with Sakura's endocrine system, just as the human chakra network was. The near-fatal interactions of the chakra with the militia pills had been evidence enough of that. The Reserve Seal, positioned directly over the hypothalamus, was currently being disrupted by the opposing force of the Blood Seal; hyperactive chakra flow now threw Sakura's hormonal, circulatory, and chakra systems out of balance. Tsunade compared it to diabetes as she explained it, now having to speak to the room at large as everyone watched on with curiosity. Like a person whose body couldn't produce the hormones to process sugar, Sakura's Blood Seal was both flooding her with chakra and making her body unable to withstand it. The goal was to drag it through her blood and into her brain, through her chakra network and into her third eye, and cement two seals into one, no longer overstressing Sakura's system.

She stared at the ceiling, already feeling the binding effects of the seal chains holding her down as the ink dried across her bare chest and throat.

Tsunade knelt behind her head, Ino and Shizune positioned at the end of each of her outstretched arms. Ten Ten stood at her feet, waiting for further instructions. Hinata stood nearby, her Byakugan activated and monitoring the sizzling rush of chakra in Sakura's body.

Tsunade was filling a syringe right next to Sakura's face, prompting the obvious question.

"Is it really necessary that I be sedated for this?"

"I created this specifically for this procedure, Sakura, of course it's necessary. But I do think that this baby is going to earn a lot of money when I can get it approved for hospital use," she said, drawing the milky white liquid into the vacuum of the needle.

"The one guarantee I do have for this procedure is that it's going to hurt, a lot. We're going to pressurize every iota of chakra in your body into your wrist and then drag it into your brain. Normally, I'd be impressed by your willingness to attempt it awake, but as it stands, your chakra is too uncontrollable to risk it reacting to your pain. None of us know what your chakra could do to protect itself. We need you breathing on your own, even if it'll be depressed, to circulate the chakra-enriched blood from your wrist through your lungs and heart and into the brain, but we can't risk you being aware."

Tsunade spurted the syringe, popping the few air bubbles inside.

"This will keep you semi-unconscious, enough so that you won't react, and you also won't remember anything that happens. You won't form any conscious memories of any of the pain that your body is about to suffer through. I've decided to call it 'Milk of Amnesia,'" she said, finishing with a grand flourish.

"Please tell me it'll make me forget this conversation too. This might be the worst pep talk you've ever given."

"You should have heard what she said to Lee," Ten Ten commented, earning a chastising glance from Tsunade.

"I pride myself of being honest with my patients about the reality of their situations. When the risk is dying, I don't shy away from letting you know the facts," she said. Tsunade looked down at Sakura, her face very serious.

"This is your last chance, Sakura. Back out now, release the Reserve Seal, and you will walk out of here in one piece, guaranteed. Or I inject this into your jugular, and we do this as quickly as possible."

Sakura stared at the ceiling, refusing to balk.

She had suffered for the Reserve Seal. She had worked hard and given her all for it. If one card fell, the house would tumble. To lose her Reserve Seal would be to begin undermining everything she had done to build a name for herself, everything she had worked so hard for.

Sakura refused to be controlled by the Blood Seal. It would not take from her; it would be taken by her. She would crush it in her grip like everything else that dared to defy her.

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then nodded.

Tsunade took Sakura's chin and pulled it gently to the side, the skin of her neck stretching taut. She slid the needle into the bulging vein in the side of her throat and pressed the plunger, the thin white fluid disappearing beneath the flesh.

Sakura mumbled something incoherent, then her eyes rolled back into her skull.

"Hyuuga, let me know if her chakra begins to destabilize. Yamanaka, Shizune, let's begin."

All three women pressed their hands onto Sakura's skin, filling the room with the soft hum of healing chakra. The glow haloed around Sakura's body, hovering over her like a film.

"It's starting," Hinata whispered.

Sakura's wrist began to glow, a recognizable insignia scrawling itself along the length of her scar. The glow quickly brightened, emitting its own buzzing screech that battled with the hum of healing chakra. Sakura's breathing grew ragged as the red glow beneath the skin of her wrist began to writhe and surge, pushing at her skin and lighting up the room like a campfire.

"Now, Ten Ten! The first chains," Tsunade barked.

Ten Ten's hands whipped through a flurry of hand signs. "Release!"

The first lines of seals down Sakura's arms released, each symbol reeling its way inwards to her chest. The fiery glow ripped its way up through Sakura's bicep and into the large symbol that sat directly above her heart, locked into place.

"Second chains!"

"Release!"

Lines of script raced down the walls and towards Sakura, pulling the chakra tighter and tighter into itself as it fought against the forces acting upon it. The red chakra in Sakura's heart exploded across her ribcage as the blood circulated her lungs and back into her heart to continue its path to her brain. The pressure pushed in on her chest, sweat beading on Shizune and Ino's foreheads as they fought to keep her breathing. Tsunade gritted her teeth, pressing her fingers tighter against Sakura's temples as she wrestled the bound chakra into submission.

"Lady Tsunade, I believe you should hurry," Hinata said, worried.

"Third chains!"

"Release!"

The remaining circles beneath Sakura's back drew in upon themselves and into her chest, the last of the sealing chains pulling up along her neck, over her carotids, and onto her skull.

"Lady Tsunade, stop!" Hinata shrieked, as the compressed chakra exploded the second it met the Reserve Seal, but it was too late.

Sakura jolted upright and began to scream. Her hair stood on end as waves of chakra fizzled around her skull. Hinata watched as invisible waves of chakra whipped around her head like a hurricane, slamming in and out of the Reserve Seal until she was sure the force would crack open the thick bone of Sakura's forehead and spill brains onto the floor.

Sakura's eyes flew open, as she continued to scream, to scream and scream and scream. Ino covered her mouth with her hands, covering a scream of shock to see Sakura's eyes completely red. The pressure in her brain and the force of her screams popped the blood vessels in her eyeballs, staining her sclerae a stomach-turning shade of scarlet floating around a disturbing bright green pupil.

Tsunade grabbed her from behind by the shoulders, forcing Sakura back onto the ground. They all watched as the Reserve Seal turned a gristly tone of red, as if it was burning its way into her flesh. A circle grew around the diamond, and a thick red line stretched straight down the center, just passing between the middle of her eyebrows. Tsunade bit her tongue as she stared in Sakura's bloody, unseeing eyes. She was regretting this, regretting risk she had put Sakura through. The seals were compounded now, yes, but Sakura had to survive for it to matter.

Tsunade planted her hands on either side of Sakura's jaw and pressed, forcing a powerful wave of her own chakra through Sakura's brain. The power of Sakura's chakra battered at her own, hitting hard enough that even as it only touched her distended chakra, it felt to Tsunade as though she were being crushed in a vice. She powered through, managing to get all the way to Sakura's nervous system and hijack it long enough to vicariously set the last-ditch effort into motion.

Sakura's screams cut off suddenly as the violent red glow of the Bloodied Reserve Seal whirled, scarlet lines streaming down her face and limbs as the Creation Rebirth technique was activated. The blood pooled into her eyes began to disappear, the bruises along the seal transfer's path slowly fading away into nothing. Her eyes slid shut, and Sakura lied there, now motionless except for the shallow breaths in and out of her chest.

Hinata scurried to crouch next to Tsunade, having to carefully balance the extra weight of her belly on her heels.

"Lady Hokage, I believe it worked," she said, her eyes flicking furiously over Sakura's body. "The chakra signatures are indiscernible now."

Tsunade sat heavily on her ass, panting hard.

"She has to wake up before we start congratulating ourselves," she said morosely, watching Sakura as she continued to sleep.

* * *

  



	20. Saya

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's black and white and red all over?
> 
> It's Ichiro holding Chi's body in the beginning of chapter 6.

 

A tiny girl, barely more than a toddler, is sitting in front of her home, feet buried in the sand. Her skin is glowing beneath the sunlight as she plays, letting tiny grains of sand spill between her fingers and onto the ground.

"Buggy!"

A fat, shiny beetle scuttled its way out of the sand, right between the little girl's feet. She crawled along behind it, following it through the dunes and away from the little house. Rays of sunlight glinted off of the beetle's wings, a little jewel bouncing along through the sand. She toddled to her feet, trailing behind the bug as it walked.

She wandered further and further from the sandstone hut sat on the very edges of the Sand Village. Far from the markets and from fresh water, but not far enough from the dangers that sought her out.

She finally caught the beetle in her chubby hands, sitting back down and sinking into the sand as it walked over and between her fingers.

"SAYA!"

The girl looked back at her home, nestled in the distance. Her long, curly red hair fanned through the air as she whipped around to see her mother, earth brown skin in sharp contrast to the sun-bleached acres of sand, run out of the house. Suna shinobi

"SAYAAAA!"

Saya watched as her mother was cut down, an arc of blood flying into the sky as her head fell from her shoulders.

Even as a child, she knew who they were really there for. Even as a child, she knew to force her way to her feet and run, disappearing barefoot into the wastes.

* * *

An orphan is hiding behind the barrels in a courtyard. Another orphan has found her, taken aback by the bright red hair that sticks up around her face, so much like his own. She tells him she has no parents to go home to. He says he can teach her to make them for herself. She lives there, hidden, playing with his special dolls.

She stays until it is time for them both to spread beyond the sands. One to search for clouds, one to disappear.

* * *

Muggy summer heat melts into the dark, skinny side streets of a dirty Land of Fire onsen village. A young girl sits huddled in a corner, little more than a bundle of rags in a dusty alley. Her red hair is braided tight, hidden beneath layers of potato sacks as she tries to stay hidden from the eyes of strangers. One eye is swollen and dark, a fiendish bruise that spreads from temple to cheek. She shrinks into her rags as two men pass by, sniggering at her. A gold coin is thrown, it hits her forehead and tumbles into her lap. She stares at it, unseeing, until they pass.

"Go take a bath, dirty little urchin."

Saya sighed, relaxed now that they were gone. She picked up the coin and threw it, wanting nothing to do with their "charity."

Saya's eyes flicked up as she caught the slightest bit of movement on the pavement in front of her.

A cockroach scuttled past, down the alley and towards the market streets that bustled with a thick flow of human exchange. Saya rose to her feet, tightening her rags around her, and followed.

Saya was all but invisible, weaving in and out of the crowds, far beneath the shoulders of any prying eyes. Her eyes followed the cockroach as it skittered onwards, finally stopping to climb the post of a vendor's stall.

Saya shook one hand free of her rags, slender fingers twitching unnaturally. She slowly approached the stall, staying well out of sight. The cockroach jumped, falling onto the dirt street below. It twitched erratically on the ground, flailing little legs tickling a dusting of glittery chakra into the air. Quickly, it righted itself, skirting back and forth between incoming feet and back onto the vendor's stall. It crawled right into a basket of bread, settling itself comfortably right on top like a pat of shiny black butter.

Saya didn't have to wait long at all for a piercing scream to shoot through the market streets. A well-dressed older woman, dripping in pearls, screamed at the top of her lungs as the cockroach jumped from the loaf of bread she had grabbed and ran up into her sleeve.

Confusion erupted as the woman started to run in circles, clawing at her silk robes and screeching.

Smiling, Saya crouched into a squat and scurried towards another stall, her dirty grey clothes blending into the shadows. She scooped a pile of fruit into her dress, holding the hem together like a lumpy sack as she snuck her way back into the rumbling crowd, with none the wiser.

Or so she thought.

Saya had burrowed herself back into an alley corner, leaned over her lapful of spoils. She was beginning to peel an orange, saliva almost dripping out of her mouth while her stomach grumbled loudly enough to wake the dead.

"Now," said a voice from behind her, making Saya freeze with her fingers still pushing through the delicate, sticky inner flesh of the fruit. One arm reached over her shoulder and plucked a plump red apple from her lap. Her head turned slowly, following the hand as it brought fruit to teeth.

"Just where would a little alley cat like you have learned a trick like that?" the man asked, biting into the apple.

Saya stared at him in horror, huddling protectively over her meager amount of food and crunching herself into as tight a ball as possible. The ruby-studded sword that hung from his hip kept her in rooted in place, fear itself wringing her soul dry. She squeezed her eyes shut and bent her head, refusing to let him see her cry.

She had run, run as far as she could for as long as she could, but they had found her anyway. If they were to kill her, so be it. But he would not see her cry.

The silence dragged on around her as she waited for the blade to bite through her throat.

_ill see you soon mommy_

"Well, alley cat, are you coming?"

Saya looked up, scarlet curls escaping the edges of her hair wrap. The man was leaving, already halfway down the alley with his glossy black ponytail swinging to and fro. He took another bite of the apple, jerking his chin and motioning for her to follow.

Unsure, Saya rose to her feet, still clutching the fruit tightly in her hands.

"If you come with me, you can learn to use that little trick for something better than oranges," he said, looking back at her with an eyebrow raised.

Saya's fingers touched gingerly at the swollen flesh of her eyelid.

The man turned back around and continued to walk away.

Moments later, nothing remained in the alley, save for a crushed orange covered in roaches.

* * *

A young woman is sitting on a beach at sunset, her feet buried in the surf. She is scooping sand into her palms and pouring it over and over from hand to hand. As she watches the tiny grains fall from between her fingers, she is reminded of home.

"I thought I might find you out here."

Saya started, rushing to her feet and bowing deeply.

"Good evening, my Lady Chi," Saya said, not rising until she felt a soft tap of acknowledgment on her shoulder. When she straightened up, the woman before her was looking across the watery horizon at the setting sun.

"Would you tell me about your mother again, Saya? I feel troubled this evening. I think that surely your stories will help me relax."

Chi stood barefoot in the sand, holding her red-laced geta in hand. The ocean breeze blew her hair back like a veil of white diamonds, sparkling almost as brightly as the waves. She knelt smoothly, carefully arranging her skirts as she sat.

"My Lady Chi, is it wise to wear your kimono in the sand?" Saya asked, already seeing how little stones and shells were working their way into the delicate silk threads of the few layered robes.

"I care little about the kimono, Saya. Now come, tell me again about where you come from," Chi replied, beckoning Saya closer. She complied, coming to sit beside Chi, half on her skirts.

"These sands remind me of my home, though these are not nearly as warm. Here, life is in the water. Yet the deserts of my homeland survived on their own, my Lady. Life has risen in the wastes. The heat only breeds the strong, and the strong survived," Saya paused for a moment, unearthing a sparkly black shell from beneath Chi's kimono. She let the small conch lie flat in her palm like a dead bug.

"Beetles and scorpions like to crawl inside the sand dunes of Suna and play their hiding games with the little children," Saya said, smiling fondly. Somehow, the fact that most children didn't like to play with poisonous invertebrates escaped her completely.

"Mother could catch the horned lizards beneath the sand with only one hand, dragging their thrashing bodies out by the tail. On the nights we could afford wood, Mother would roast them whole. Did you know, my Lady Chi, that one can save the head of a horned lizard? The skin will shrink to the skull and the brains turn to dust. Mother made many for me as toys, in every color you can imagine, before…"

"Do you miss your mother often, Saya?" Chi asked. The question caught the younger woman by surprise. Saya rolled the shell over and over between her fingers.

"I do not think of her every day, not any longer. Weeks will pass before I remember what it is that I have lost," she murmured.

Saya tried to picture her, conjuring the image of her mother. Bent over her sewing, tightly curled black hair pulled into knots all over her scalp, and sweat dripping down skin the color of fertile soil. Hard as she tried, she could not see her mother's face. Saya tried to hold back the tears, failing spectacularly.

Chi gently pulled Saya so that her head rested in the lap of her kimono. She ran her fingers through the long red locks that tumbled down Saya's shoulders, looking off into the setting sun.

"I wonder, little one, if you were brought to me because of who it is you lost. A childless mother and an orphan, becoming family, becoming Blood," Chi said, thoughtfully.

Saya thought over the years since Ichiro had found her, a homeless whelp on the streets of Fire country, with neither a family nor a country to return to. He had brought her to the Land of Water long ago, training her, raising her. Curiously, she never considered that they were indoctrinating her.

All she knew was that the siblings had saved her life, taken her in and made her into more than what she had been. Saya's fingers traced idly over the thick scar that disfigured the crease of her elbow, where so many years ago Chi had transfused some of her own blood into Saya's veins.

She shared their blood, felt it sparking inside of her arteries with millions of flashes of pure chakra.

"My Mother is waiting for me beyond, Lady Chi. Here, in this world where we breathe and mourn, the Ketsu are my people."

Chi hummed, idly braiding Saya's hair.

"I'm glad to hear you say that, sweet Saya. The Ketsu are going to need you soon, and the memory of my family is blessed to be carried on your shoulders."

Saya sat up, wet sand caked to the side of her clothing. She looked at Chi with sad, resigned eyes.

"But it is not  _you_  who will be needing me."

"No, my dear. I'm afraid not. There is still so much to do to win this war, to exact justice on those who destroyed our families, who took my daughter and your mother from the Earth. There are still many sacrifices to be made."

Chi rose to her feet, the very picture of elegance. Grit tumbled down the silk of her kimono as she started toward the outgoing tide. She began to pull at her obi, untying the bow and letting pieces of the jūnihitoe fall into the sand, Saya trailing behind.

"Do you see the sky, Saya? Do you see how the sun is bleeding for us, how she is telling us she loves us?" she asked, continuing to untie each koshihimo, removing the robes layer by layer.

"Yes, my Lady, but what-"

"I will not see her again," Chi said, coming to stand with her ankles in the surf, dressed only in her nagajuban. The cotton shift swayed lazily around her calves as a salty breeze caressed the women's faces. She spoke dreamily, almost more to the sky than to Saya.

"This is our last goodbye, Saya," Chi continued, turning to take Saya's hands in both of hers.

"I have one more sacrifice to make, the only way I can serve my purpose as the last heartbeat of this clan. Ichiro and I will be leaving tonight, and I won't be returning."

"Lady Chi, please don't-"

"It is done, sweet girl. What must come, shall come. There is no other way but forward."

Saya's tears now fell freely down her cheeks, and she rubbed at them with the back of her hand.

Chi took the raised arm by the wrist, extending it so that they could both look at the twisted scar in Saya's elbow.

"My blood flows within you, Saya. Like the sun who signs her name for us, promising that she hasn't left us, I promise that I will always be with you. I swear with my blood that I love you with all my heart."

Saya began to cry in earnest then, sobs that threatened to splinter her ribs like matchsticks.

"I am glad to have found you, my love. You came into my life so soon after I lost my child, you healed me more than I could ever have prayed for. You have helped us bring forward the rise of our new strength. I only wish that you could have met your sister. Chuya would have loved you, just as I have loved you."

Chi took the bawling girl in her arms, holding her until her cries subsided into uneven gasps for breath.

"You have so much more to do, Saya. You and Ichiro will end this war, you will end them  _all._ No more of our deaths shall be in vain, Saya. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my Lady Chi. I understand," she said, voice cracking as she said the name.

"You're a good girl, Saya. I love you, very much. I promise we will meet again someday."

Chi dropped Saya's hands and turned back into the surf. She strode into the gentle waves, until she was little more than a single white dot floating in between the endless reds of the sunset.

Saya slowly walked away from the shore and to the rocky flat of the isle. She turned to see Chi one last time, facing the bloody sunset, and then continued on. Her heart ached.

How many mothers can a girl lose before she is broken beyond repair?

* * *

A woman is crouched on her hands and toes, ready to spring. Her cropped red hair is almost sparkling in the sunshine as she moves, lithely attacking again and again. She is a cocoa-skinned blur, perspiration pooling beneath her arms as she lunges. The stones underfoot are splashed with blood and sweat; the trees are shaking with every bodily impact.

"No one will take an alley cat seriously if it can't even bite, Saya."

Saya tried again to attack Ichiro, only glancing off of his heavy armor and slamming back into the ground.

"You expect anyone to fear you? You expect anyone to give a damn about a stunted desert rodent that they could crush beneath their boot?"

Saya screamed, her fury blazing out of control. Chakra surged around her fists like gauntlets, only missing Ichiro by inches with every swing.

"You expect to find justice? The deserts will eat you alive and spit out your mummified corpse."

Ichiro caught her by the back of her dress and threw her, sending her body crashing into the stones. Saya bit back her scream – it would only make things worse. She fought to push herself to her feet, unrelenting. She would succeed. She would become what Lady Chi had expected of her.

Ichiro kept yelling, purposely trying to drive her to move faster, hit harder, kill without hesitation.

"You think you can avenge your mother? You think you're strong enough to face your father?"

Saya's vision went red.

She flew.

Like a tiny bird, she sailed through the air, aiming to land on Ichiro's head. He dodged to the left, leaving Saya to tuck and roll. She popped right back up, already swinging a blade back and forth at his gut. He smiled devilishly. She was getting it.

"Your skin wasn't good enough to please him, now was it, Saya? Too foreign, too dark for someone of his stature. You were just another dangerous animal for him to put down!"

Saya swiped at him with the blade, shearing off a length of fabric from his cloak as he jumped backward. Chakra ran down its length, sharpening the edge infinitely. Anger blinded her as she encroached on Ichiro, backing him into a tree, instinct pushing her sword closer and closer to his throat. The need for revenge burned her every nerve.

"You think your blood is strong enough to kill a Kazekage?!" he roared, taunting her.

Saya lunged, shoving the blade forward with every pound of force she could possibly exert. The steel slid between the shoulder plates of his armor and deep into the trunk, pinning him in place. The blade cut a shallow gouge into the exposed skin of his throat, thin red lines of blood oozing down the side of his neck. She jumped back as Ichiro began yanking on the sword's hilt in an attempt to free himself.

Saya spread her feet and braced herself, ready for him to come running. Her hands raised as he unstuck himself from the tree, easily swinging the sword into his grip and beginning to advance.

"NO!" Saya screamed, deadly intent written across her face. She held her hands in front of her, waving and twisting them about in midair.

Yet Ichiro was coming, blade already arcing through the air and en route for her face.

And then he was hit broadside by a seagull.

Caught off balance, he stumbled sideways to the ground, even as more and more seagulls flew in, circling above, landing on him, pecking at his face and hands.

"Okay! Okay! I submit!"

Saya dropped her hands and collapsed to her knees, panting. She scraped her knee when she fell and watched closely as blood swelled its way to the surface. Overhead, the seagulls began to scatter now that she had released her jutsu.

Ichiro came to sit beside her, handing back her sword and wiping away the smears of blood on his throat. Saya noted with an empty type of worry that he was favoring his left knee. Gray hair was starting to thread its way into his long ponytail, speaking unkindly on his age. It had been many, many years now since he had found her, nine years old and starving, suffering abuse at the hands of drunks stumbling their way home under the cover of darkness. They were both much older now. The years had made them wiser. Made them colder.

"You're making excellent progress, alley cat."

"Thank you, my Lord Ichiro."

"Chi would have been proud."

Saya didn't respond, only staring at her bloody knee with a blank expression. She did not speak of the Lady Chi. Even after a year, the loss was too raw. She had not even made the journey to see the Seal yet. Ichiro would not force her, as Chi had already bound Ketsu chakra into Saya through the transfusion, but she knew that it was becoming unavoidable. Soon, she would have to face the last remnants of the woman she had known as a mother, whether she was capable of handling it or not. She sighed, heavily.

"Our time is coming, Saya. There's just more to do first."

* * *

A figure in a pale cloak is walking through the mist like a spectre, following the coppery stench that hung in the air. She is following her orders, taking record of the devastation that still rippled outward from Kirigakure.

Saya paused to sniff at the air, adjusting her course and following the thick odor of blood that managed to seep through even the thickest of the fog. Ichiro had sent her to see for herself the massacres they were to one day prevent, and Saya was exhausted down to her bones. Weeks upon weeks of finding annihilated villages and mutilated bodies was taking its toll, emptying her of the last of the kindness still hid in the sandy recesses of her heart.

The mist was heavy, but still, Saya could see the corpses strewn across the grass, avoiding the inner organs and muck that squelched underfoot. Huts, some still smoking from long-banked bonfires, huddled together in disorderly coves.

Sighing, Saya decided that, as distasteful as it might be, it would be in her best interest to sleep her, where the shelter was free and vaguely hospitable. One house was set back just slightly from the rest, the only one that still had all of its windows. Such would have to suffice.

Saya treaded through the grass in silence, ignoring the audible  _crunch_  from beneath her sandal as she stepped directly into a decaying skull. She was unlacing her cloak when she shoved her way through the shut front door, immediately coming face to face with a dull, dented kunai that poked the inside of her nostril.

Two children stood before her, barely shorter than she was. The one with the kunai was a boy, maybe 11. The girl, 7, if that.

Saya wrapped her fist around the thick end of the kunai, digging what was left of the edge into her thumb and releasing bead of richly sanguine blood. She jerked his hand toward his own face, swiping her thumb across his forehead. His body went slack, falling to the ground in an ugly slump.

The girl, looking more animal than human as she covered the boy's body with her own tiny one, pulled the long matted black carpet of her hair around them protectively. She bared her teeth at Saya and growled, eyes manic with fear.

Saya's eyes wandered around the one-room hut, landing on a rotten lump of meat in the corner. Meat that must have once been human, as told by the wiry hair and clothes that were embedded into the sloughing flesh.

Saya squatted to look the girl in her reddish-brown eyes, and as she did so, her heart broke.

She saw herself, starving and dirty, dead if not for the kindness of a red-haired orphan.

"Hello, sweet girl. I am called Saya. What might your name be?"

The girl snarled, gaze flicking back and forth from Saya's eyes and the sword that hung from her hip. Realizing this, Saya smiled softly.

"No, my child, I am not here to hurt you," she said, slowly unbuckling the hilt from her belt. Saya laid it in front of her, next to the children. The girl snatched it away, shoving it into the unconscious boys far hand.

"That is my gift to you. I would not want you to fear me, lovely. I would not want you to fear anything again."

The girl sniffled, and for the first time, Saya realized how skinny she was, how skinny they both were. The girl's lips were chapped, her nose running with bloody snot. They must have hidden away and stayed here, even as bodies rotted in the corner and food spoiled in the larders, too scared to go outside.

"I am here now, I promise you," she said, trying not to hear Chi's voice as she spoke the very same words Chi had once said to her. "Will you tell me your name, little sweet?"

"Manami."

 


	21. Shh, You're Only Dreaming

Ino sat in her chair, fingers fiddling with worry. In front of her, Sakura laid in a crisp, white hospital bed, not the slightest trace of movement evident in the folds of the sheets. A plethora of wires and tubes fed into her body from a collection of beeping monitors, the only indication that the woman was still alive.

That, and the burning Creation Rebirth jutsu that still lit the room more brightly than the fluorescent lights above.

"Still no change?"

Ino looked up, shaking her head sadly in answer as Naruto opened the door and entered Sakura's hospital room. He came to stand beside her, gently squeezing her shoulder in an understated show of assurance. Ino grunted, not trusting herself to speak without her voice cracking.

"Granny Tsunade says that she's gonna be okay as long as that thingy on her head keeps glowin'. As long as that's all lit up, her body's just repairin' itself, right?"

Ino shrugged.

"That's more of a Shizune question, not really one for me. I have medical training, but I didn't study under Lady Tsunade."

"Well, that's what Granny told me, so I think we should believe her and stay positive, right?"

Ino reached across her chest to pat Naruto's hand appreciatively.

"I don't know where this Village would be without your endless positivity, dummy."

"I'm choosin' to take that as a compliment, 'cause we're all kinda stressed right now."

"It was, Naruto, I promise," she said, smiling weakly. Ino turned back to watch Sakura, now in her third day of being comatose, as the steady noise of the heart monitor punched her in the gut every time it sounded off. Naruto stood beside her in silence, their hands squeezing each other's for the barest shreds of hope and assurance.

Naruto sighed, and let go of Ino's shoulder.

"I gotta get home to Hinata now, it's getting' hard for her to move around the house alone these days."

Ino stood to follow Naruto to the door.

"She must be getting pretty far along now, almost 4 months?"

"Yeah, she's freakin' adorable, Ino. She's all tiny and her belly's all big, and now she walks all like this," Naruto said, puffing out his cheeks and holding his arms in front of him to mime a pregnant belly, and then waddling around in an uneven circle.

"She's coming in for her monthly visits, right? You know that's very important for the baby."

"Um, I think her dad and the family are being kinda weird about that, actually," he said, standing up straight and scratching the back of his neck. "Hanabi checks pretty often and makes sure it's all goin' right, but unless Sakura's around to do it, they just refuse to let her bring the hospital into it. They're  _real_  traditional."

"Even more reason to hope that Sakura wakes up soon, then," Ino said quietly, looking back at the sleeping kunoichi with sad eyes.

"I hope she wakes up before the rest of the guys get back, they'll all lose their shit if they find out Sakura was unconscious like this and nobody told em."

"What guys?" Ino asked, whipping to face Naruto, her hair flying out behind her. Naruto didn't notice her sudden alertness.

"Oh, like others from Team Kakashi. Him, Sai, n' Yamato are all out on a mission. We aren't really supposed to bother anyone on a mission, or I'd let them know, y'know? They'd be just as worried about her as we are," Naruto answered, also looking at Sakura forlornly. He sighed, then turned and walked out of the door.

"I'll see ya tomorrow, Ino. Make sure to lemme know if anything changes."

Ino didn't reply, standing silently and staring at Sakura intently. She thought carefully for just a moment, then followed Naruto into the hallway and in the direction of the hospital's entrance.

"Where are you goin'?"

"Oh, nothing important. I just remembered that there's a letter I really need to send off."

* * *

" _What hides behind our skin?"_

_Sakura felt like she was drowning, the darkness that surrounded her was pressing in on her lungs and threatening to crush her heart. She struggled to open her heavy eyes, but when she did, everything around her was greyish and blurry, as though she was watching through a cloud of smoke._

" _What secrets are here, sweet girl, hidden in blood?"_

_The smoke around her cleared, yet Sakura was not truly there. She felt disembodied, as if only watching, only dreaming._

_A woman with long white hair was sitting on a round stone bench, in a dark, claustrophobic room, seemingly only lit by the glow of her own skin. She was staring at her extended wrist, as if searching for answers in the faint blue lines crisscrossing beneath the skin. She was alone, speaking to…herself?_

" _Even as I bled, Ichiro did not see the lies that poured out of my skin. Have they died with me?"_

_The woman twitched her other hand over her flexed wrist, a deep red glow streaming to encircle the limb. Her skin began to peel, layers of tissue, fat, and muscle receding to allow a fine web of blood vessels to float eerily from inside of her flesh. Blood pooled out, slowly, black and thick, like little drops of oil flying in midair._

" _Did he ever learn of how many I killed alongside myself? How many sacrifices had to be made before my death would mean something?"_

_The woman looked up, straight at what would have been Sakura's eyes if she had had a body._

" _Can this even be called death?"_

_Sakura tried to scream, but nothing came. Only the most enveloping feeling of fear as the woman's eyes, fully red all throughout, bored deep into her very soul._

_The red glow overtook everything, burning, making Sakura's mind scream and scream until the cacophony faded to an empty void._

* * *

Kakashi and Yamato were walking side by side through the trees, slowly approaching the massacred village as they kept a keen eye out for any traces of a trail.

"I wonder why the kid doesn't ever try to be all buddy-buddy and use those library books of his on us?" Yamato asked, peeking up through the trees above to try and spot Sai flying overhead on one of his painted beasts.

"Well, we were in ANBU just like he was. He probably just doesn't think it's worth the effort when we pretty much get it," Kakashi answered, as he stopped walking and crouched to stick his hand inside of a thorn bush.

Yamato stopped to stoop over him, now serious.

"Did you find something, senpai?"

"Just this," he said, pulling out a scrap of thick grey fabric, stained with a fine spray of blood.

"So they must have passed in this direction as they left."

"Looks that way. We'll send Sai to scout back in that direction later, since he's so excited to fly around on that thing."

Yamato snorted as Kakashi stood back up and they continued towards the village.

Sai jumped off of his eagle and dropped neatly to the ground beside them as they broke the tree line, the salty scent of ocean air mixed with rampant decay slapping them across the face.

A few Mist-nin stood around still but ignored them for the most part. And that suited Kakashi just fine. The less he had to do with them, the better.

Most of the bodies had been respectfully removed and buried, but bloody weapons and chunks of gristle and viscera still dotted the grass here and there, rotting under the hot sun.

Yamato broke away from Kakashi's side to speak with one of the lingering Mist shinobi, while he continued in a beeline toward the hut on the very edge, the one he recognized from the photos.

Sai stood beside him as he looked at the message painted in blood contemplatively.

"That appears to be quite the threat."

"That it is, Sai. I think we can be sure that whatever liminal period they've been in is officially over. The issue now is to find out what exactly it is they're threatening to do."

"I assume we can expect more of the same," Sai said, looking over his shoulder at the empty houses and stained grasses.

"Something makes me feel like we should expect even worse," Kakashi answered, stepping closer to the side of the house. The blood scrawled across the wall was sunk into the wood, almost seared into the grain. When he scratched at it with his nail, the surface crumbled like ash. These people, they turned blood into acid and gasoline. What else could they do? What other threats did they bring, hidden beneath the mysterious grey aura of their cloaks?

"We found evidence that they were likely traveling in that direction," Kakashi said, nodding his chin to the northwest, a direction that was worryingly close to the direction of Fire country.

Sai nodded, taking a knee and pulling out his scroll. Yamato approached just as a large eagle burst from the parchment and into the sky, Sai leaping onto its back and flying off into the distance.

"They're saying that most of the villagers killed each other, ambushing them as they came out of their houses."

"Genjutsu?"

"Or at least something similar. A lot of them had the Ketsu symbol on their foreheads, but none of those kids did. We shouldn't presume that those are two different things. There had to have been at least two of them here – one to lead the children away and one to keep watch until the fighting started."

"Sasuke's intel will have to be cross-referenced. But it seems like even that is coming up empty for answers most of the time these days."

"You don't think-"

"If Sasuke was on their side, we'd already be dead."

Yamato shut his mouth, unable to answer.

Just then, both men were distracted by a loud puff of smoke right at their feet. When it dispersed, there sat Pakkun, a little scroll attached to his vest by a shiny purple ribbon.

"What the hell is this?" Kakashi asked, dumbfounded. For a summons to show up completely unannounced was exceedingly rare. That's the point of them after all, they have to be  _summoned._

"Look, Boss, I was bribed. Between the pretty girl with the belly rubs and the breeder kid with his jerky treats, I couldn't say no."

Next to him, Yamato started to laugh.

"Did your secret girlfriend steal your summons? You're  _whipped_  whipped."

Kakashi rolled his eyes and shoved him in the shoulder. Beneath the mask, he was blushing.

"Whatever happened to the respect you used to have for me?" he asked as he untied the scroll and began to read it.

Immediately, the humor drained from his face, skin paling in color by about three shades.

"I have to go."

"Wait, what? You can't just go, we're in the middle of a mission-" Yamato tried to say, but Kakashi was already gone, just the slightest flash of his silver hair visible as he hopped over the huts and back into the trees, moving much faster than he had on the way out of Konoha.

Yamato stared at Pakkun in confusion, who was idly scratching his ear, unconcerned.

"What was that about?"

"How should I know? The blond one didn't tell me what it said."

"Are you at least going to go with him?"

"Nah. I'll disappear once he gets far enough awa-"

* * *

_Pop!_

_It felt like eons before the pain subsided to the empty greyness of her unconscious._

_When Sakura's vision floated into place again, she was on her couch, draped in her shuriken blanket, yet the living room was different, bigger. A fireplace was in front of her, definitely not something that existed anywhere in her apartment building, the long mantle above crowded with picture frames. She looked up from the book in her hands, squinting, trying to make out the photos inside, but she couldn't._

" _Mo-ommy!"_

_Sakura's head snapped to the left, and she saw a little girl, no more than 5, careen around the corner and into the room at top speed. She tried to jump over the table, but her foot caught the edge, and she went tumbling into the ground, scraping her elbow on the carpet._

_Sakura, body driven by some other force than her own will, jumped off the sofa and to the little girl's side. Sakura was a voyeur in her own body, all the limbs and scars she could recognize as her own, but movements that she took no real part in._

" _Aw, baby, are you okay?"_

_Internally, Sakura stared in shock at the tiny copy of herself, eyes a deeper green and hair a paler shade of pink, a dusting of dark freckles over her nose._

" _I want Daddy to kiss it better!" she cried out, tears and snot streaming down her face. Sakura bent over to kiss the top of her head, pulling her into her lap and rocking her back and forth._

" _That's a good idea, sweetheart, you know that Daddy kisses are the very best medicine there is."_

" _Oh, we better follow Dr. Mom's orders then shouldn't we, huh, shouldn't we?"_

_Sakura looked up, and what she saw knocked her breath out of her lungs. Backlit by the light of the kitchen, was Kakashi, with an entire baby in his arms._

_A whole entire baby with a shock of that silvery pink hair, that was pulling down Kakashi's mask with its chubby little fists._

_Sakura could only stare with her jaw agape as he crouched down beside her to kiss the little girl's elbow. The girl sniffed, hard, trying not to cry._

" _Well, aren't you a brave big girl?"_

_She wiped at her eyes, nodding furiously with the most severe, serious face she could possibly muster._

" _Just like your mom," he said, ruffling her hair. He smiled at Sakura then, eyes crinkling._

_Sakura choked, eyes flitting back and forth between him, the baby, and the girl; her throat tightened, and she struggled to breathe._

_She wasn't ready for that._

_She didn't know if Kakashi wanted kids, didn't know if_ she  _wanted kids, didn't know if she could handle being a mother. She didn't even know if their relationship was like that._

_Panic and disbelief clawed at the edges of her mind, and again she sank into a smoky void._

* * *

Ino was changing out Sakura's IV when Kakashi slammed open the door. She turned to say something to him but was struck speechless to see him staring at Sakura, mask and headband fully out of the way, a look of utter despair sculpting his perfect features into the most grotesque display of pain Ino had seen in a long, long time. Her stomach rolled, and she wished he would cover his face. Seeing it felt  _wrong,_ like this expression of pain was something meant for Sakura and Sakura alone. Ino looked away, disturbed.

He made no real move to cover his face as he collapsed into the chair next to the bed, eyes never leaving Sakura's empty, expressionless face. He took one of her limp hands in his own, rubbing his thumb slowly across her palm.

"If I had known you were going to leave in the middle of your mission, I wouldn't have told you. Lady Tsunade will have both our asses for this, Kakashi-sensei."

He looked at her then, fixing her with that gaze that was holding endless depths of pain.

"I don't care."

Ino was oddly compelled to rest a hand on the back of his shoulder, rubbing his back supportively. He put his face in his hands as she did so, dragging in a shay breath that sounded suspiciously close to a sob.

Ino really hadn't expected him to react  _this_ intensely. She certainly hadn't expected him to abandon his mission when she sent that letter – Tsunade could end his entire career over this, and possibly even Ino's. Not that she would, of course, they all knew that. When it came to Sakura, most people were known to make allowances. But still, Ino couldn't help but be taken aback by how deep his emotional reaction went. Sakura had found a deeper connection than she had really given herself credit for.

"What's that… _thing_?" he asked, staring at the glowing streaks of chakra that still threaded along Sakura's face and body.

Ino sighed with relief, happy to finally be back on a subject with more sure footing. She stepped away from Kakashi, and they both relaxed, the moment of awkward closeness thankfully over. Ino began fiddling with the IV line again, hanging up a fresh bag of fluids and saline to drip.

"You've seen her use the Creation Rebirth jutsu before, haven't you?"

He nodded numbly, thinking back to that day so many years ago, when purple lines of power had spread all over Sakura's body as they fought Kaguya.

"Lady Tsunade believes that it's more or less the same thing, except that now it also channels chakra from the Blood Seal. The procedure was…" she paused, glancing over at Kakashi and pausing, not knowing how much to say. "Difficult. There's so much chakra coursing around in there, that now her body is regenerating itself until its capable of actually withholding all that energy." She decided not to mention Sakura's screaming, or her bloody eyes, or the one time her heart had tried to give out when she was moved into the hospital. All of that would only serve to stress him out, and there was enough suffering in his face already.

Ino finished what she was doing and peeled off her gloves, throwing them into the trash. She turned to Kakashi and cleared her throat, prompting him to break his eyes away from Sakura and to look at her.

"Firstly, I'd get this together," she said, waving her hand in front of her mouth emphatically, "because while I can totally be trusted to keep things in confidence, the same can't be said of most people. Especially the nurses here."

Kakashi sat up and touched he face, apparently only now realizing that his mask had fallen around his throat. He blushed furiously as he jerked it back into place. Ino looked away respectfully, but his expression of slight embarrassment was much less off-putting than the one of despair he had walked in with; she catalogued his features carefully out of the corner of her eyes, for when Sakura undoubtedly woke up and was able to discuss this at length with her. THE face, of THE Hatake Kakashi? There was no way Ino could hold this in for long.

"Thanks," he said, awkwardly.

"No problem," she replied, walking to the door and peeking out in either direction. "You know Tsunade is going to come and rip you a new one, right?"

"Sounds about right."

"I can give you a few hours to be in here alone at least, if you would want that," Ino said softly, turning to look at Kakashi, with his slumped shoulders and exhausted eyes.

"Please," he croaked, weakly.

Ino nodded and closed the door behind her.

When she was gone, Kakashi moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He gently rearranged the pillows around her head, pulling the sweaty strands of hair across her forehead off of her skin. The Seal that glowed savagely on her brow was warm to the touch, as if Sakura was running a fever. When his finger grazed against it, there was a small crackle of bright static as chakra was forced to the tip of his finger. Sakura's lashes trembled as her eyes started to twitch furiously beneath her translucently pale lids.

* * *

_When the greyness faded, Sakura was sitting in a trundling wagon, watching a horse's tail swish back and forth in front of her._

_She recognized that horse._

_Sakura was frozen in place, unable to look over to her left, no matter how desperately she wanted to. Tears began to tickle her eyes, her throat closing up around her tongue._

" _Not that I'm unhappy about it, but I sure wasn't expecting to see you here, honey."_

_Sakura was finally able to turn to look to the man holding the reins, his deep magenta hair bouncing along with the movement of the wagon._

" _Dad?"_

" _In the flesh," Kizashi said jovially, grinning with pride. "More or less."_

" _What're you doing here?" Sakura asked, trying to regain some sense of calm. Seeing one's dead father did not exactly bode well, from what she had seen._

" _Kiddo, you're the one hanging out in the wrong part of town. I think you know that this place isn't where you belong," he said, looking forward at the path._

" _I didn't bring myself here!"_

" _Oh, but I think you did. You need me to take you somewhere, so here you are. A parent's job is never done, huh? You're all grown up and you still need me to give you a ride," Kizashi said, leaning over to bump his shoulder affectionately into Sakura's. She smiled, ruefully, and leaned against him. Even in whatever dream world this was, the soft brown cotton of his yukata still smelled like dry leaves and honey._

" _I don't know what I'd do without you," she said, fully aware of the irony in her words. It was true, though. Even now, 17 years after Kizashi had passed, she felt like she was scrambling for purchase in the middle of a landslide. He had always been the calm one, the strong one, the one who had taken care of things._

" _I think you've done pretty damn good for yourself down there, Sakura," he said. "I know it hasn't been easy, but you've got a good head on your shoulders, and you keep good company. I couldn't be prouder if I tried."_

_Sakura looked at her feet, trying not to blush. Then, driven by some inexplicable force that snapped inside of her forehead like a lightning bolt, she blurted out:_

" _Dad, there's this guy-"_

" _Oh, the Hatake kid?"_

_Sakura choked, and Kizashi patted her on the back while she tried to collect herself._

" _This feels like entrapment."_

" _You're the one who brought it up."_

_Sakura tried to glare at him, as evasive and dad-like as ever, but she couldn't. She just sighed and leaned back against his shoulder._

" _Yes, then. The Hatake kid, although he's a lot older now. A lot older than me, you know," she muttered, preparing for the worst._

" _I always liked him, even if he was a snot-nosed little brat."_

 _Sakura sat up, flabbergasted. She had absolutely never heard anyone refer to Kakashi like_ that.

" _Snot-nosed?"_

" _Oh, definitely. He always wanted to prove that he could do anything, and he proved it every time."_

_Sakura smiled to herself. That sounded very much like the Kakashi that she knew._

" _So, tell about 'the guy' then," Kizashi said, mirth in his voice._

" _I've never met anyone who makes me feel like I can do anything, Dad. He's been one of my mentors for a long, long time. We've been working on missions together for years. There's no one I trust with my life the way I trust Kakashi," Sakura said, fidgeting with her fingers._

_Kizashi hummed._

" _He better know just how lucky he is to be loved by someone like my daughter."_

_Sakura coughed, embarrassed._

" _Uh, I wouldn't say that I love-"_

" _It's fatherly intuition, kiddo, no use fighting me on it. Just because you don't know it yet doesn't mean that I'm wrong," he said, cutting her off. "Refusing to accept things doesn't make them untrue."_

_Sakura flushed and looked to the side, staring hard at the passing fields of grass._

" _I know that other kid did a number on you, Sakura, but that doesn't mean you'll get hurt every time you love someone."_

" _Do all ghosts spy on their children, or are we just special?"_

" _It's just because I love you so darn much!" he yelled dramatically, throwing his arms around Sakura and throwing her side to side in a massive bear hug, making her laugh so hard it brought tears to her eyes. For more reasons than one._

" _Even if I do love him, which I'm not saying I do," she said, squaring her shoulders a little bit, "I'm definitely not about to have a bunch of babies just because of it."_

" _Nobody said you were."_

" _I saw it though, in another one of these visions," Sakura said, looking at her father pointedly._

" _You're sleeping, Sakura. Some dreams are only dreams."_

_Sakura's mouth snapped shut. She hadn't thought of that. The idea of her subconscious creating those children, just for her, all on its own, wasn't something she had dared to consider._

" _I loved your mother very much, but she had her own troubles. You shouldn't deny yourself the possibilities of that kind of life, just because Mebuki didn't know how to handle them."_

" _I don't know what you're talking about. She did fine," Sakura said, sitting up and staring straight ahead._

" _Don't do that, Sakura."_

" _I'm not doing anything."_

" _You're overcompensating."_

_Sakura huffed._

" _She tried, but Mebuki doesn't know how to take care of herself and another person at the same time, especially one that she's supposed to take care of. She loves you very much, you know that, but it's okay if you aren't that close to her. That doesn't mean you love her any less, just that you love yourself enough to know that being hurt isn't worth it."_

_He paused, as the wagon slowed to a stop._

" _It also doesn't mean that you can't fall in love, start a family, and have the little rock garden you always drew in your diaries as a little girl," Kizashi said somberly, as he gestured for Sakura to climb past him and out of the wagon. She did so, landing in the soft grass next to a wooden sign, pointing in the two directions of the branching path._

_On the other side of the wagon, behind her father, Sakura watched two raggedy-cloaked travelers climb in beside him. Sakura tried to scream, suddenly cold with fear and realization, but again her body was frozen by whatever force it was that created the things she dreamt. Kizashi's eyes were sad as he spoke._

" _Even though I wasn't there when you grew up, there was nothing better in my life than having had you as a daughter."_

_The greyness took her just as a knife slit Kizashi's throat and released a spurt of blood that drowned Sakura's vision._

* * *

Kakashi's hair was unwashed, his clothes stiff and dirty. Dark circles had taken up residence beneath his eyes, and he hadn't left Sakura's side since he had gotten there two days ago.

Sakura was now in her seventh day of unconsciousness. Every day had been the same: IV changed at dawn, sponge bath at nine, a nurse who came and manually exercised Sakura's muscles at noon, another IV at five, and the endless stream of nurses coming in and out to change her diaper, check her vitals, sample her blood, or just to make sure Kakashi wasn't as dead as he looked.

He hated this, hated it with every fiber of his being.

Every beep of the heart monitor, every tiny, maddening drip of fluid in the IV line; they needled at his skull and threatened to drive him crazy. The thin, sharp smell of bleach and antiseptic clouded around him and made his stomach turn. Kakashi would have thrown up if there was anything in his stomach.

Maybe Sakura and her generation had redefined what it meant to go to the hospital, with all of their new developments and technological innovations now that Tsunade was the Hokage, but it was still the same to Kakashi. Just a big, cold building where people went to die, albeit more slowly than they would otherwise. He was on edge, hating every beep but terrified that the next would never come.

Every moment was Sakura's last, Kakashi was convinced of it. He had loved her, and he had damned her; just as he had known he would. It was like his very existence was a curse upon everyone he met.

Tsunade had come, as promised, and tried to yell at him for his flagrant disregard of authority and occupational responsibility. But after just a couple of minutes, she could tell that it was a fruitless effort. Kakashi was numb to everything as long as Sakura remained unresponsive.

Tsunade sighed.

"She's not dying, Kakashi."

"It doesn't exactly look promising."

"It's called Creation  _Rebirth,_  and I'd appreciate it if you had some faith in me and the things I do."

"The people I care about have a pretty strong track record of dying horribly, so please excuse the pessimism."

Tsunade flipped through Sakura's chart, scanning through it carefully. After putting it down, she carefully placed two fingers over the center of the burning Seal in the middle of Sakura's forehead. When she did so, the hum of her healing chakra flashed like a tiny firework before calming.

"Her vitals are stable, and strengthening every day. Sakura's body will release the Creation Rebirth Jutsu once it stops taking damage. At some point, her body will acclimate to the chakra and return to normal."

"And then she'll wake up?"

Tsunade took a moment before answering.

"I have reason to believe that will be the case, yes."

"You're a bad liar."

"It's you and these kids who keep bitching about my bedside manner, Hatake. Don't have an attitude with me when I try to be comforting."

"I'd rather you just give it to me straight."

"Fine, then," Tsunade said, pulling back her hand from Sakura's face and crossing her arms. "I have never done something like this and can make no assurances on the outcome. The odds are stacked against her, and that's the honest truth."

Tsunade turned to look at Sakura, not seeing the pained tears that leaked from Kakashi's eyes and onto the edges of his mask.

"But if there is anyone who could come out on the other side of this, it's her."

* * *

_Sakura tried and tried to scream, but nothing came out. Only smoky silence surrounded her. She felt sick to her non-existent stomach as she tumbled over in limitless space, falling for what could pass as eternity._

_Then she slammed into rock, the jolt ringing through her entire skeleton as she appeared again in the tiny, dank room with the glowing woman._

" _End it, child, end all of this. It went to far. You must end it."_

_Sakura pushed herself to her knees, shaking._

" _Let me go!" Sakura cried. She wanted out of this. Tumbling through dreams and visions, all scaring her, she just wanted it to be over. Tears streamed down her face as the woman stood, slowly turning to face her._

_The woman's eyes were red, her mouth a black hole that sucked at Sakura's soul._

_ENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDITENDIT_

* * *

The lights in the room were dimmed, moonlight seeping in through the curtains. Kakashi was half-asleep in his chair, leaning over on Sakura's bedside, when the steady beeping of the heart monitor began to go into a frenzy. He jumped up, the chair shooting out from behind him and crashing into the wall.

The door to the hospital room slammed open, Shizune and Tsunade rushing through. Sakura's vitals had been iffy all day, and they were staying around the clock to monitor her status.

Shizune flicked the lights on, as the burning glow of Sakura's active Creation Rebirth began to recede, whirling in on itself up into her forehead. The beeping of the machine devolved into a shrill, unending shriek as the Seal finishing compacting with a blinding flash of bright chakra.

All three of them had to shield their faces as the monitor and windows exploded, a rain of glass blowing out of the building and into the street.

When it was done, Kakashi dropped his arms to stare at Sakura, sitting up in bed and breathing hard. Her eyes were wild, glowing inhumanly bright in the crowded room.

"What the hell happened to me?"


	22. Remedial Practices

Sakura was sitting up in bed, in a new, undamaged room, munching away on an apple as Tsunade checked over her vitals and nervous system reactions. After more than a week without solid food, Sakura was starving, and refused to listen to anyone's opinion on shocking her system with solids. She had, however, been polite enough to allow Tsunade and Shizune to recount the events of the alignment procedure before demanding to be brought food.

"Your nerves are functioning astoundingly well for someone who's just come out of a coma," Tsunade said, as she finished what she was doing and stood up. She snapped off her gloves and tossed them into the trash.

"I don't  _feel_  like someone who's just come out of a coma. I feel good, actually," Sakura said, swallowing. On the other side of the bed, shadowing her every moment, was Kakashi, looking dead on his feet but unfailingly attentive.

Tsunade slung her stethoscope around her neck and crossed her arms, quirking her eyebrow as she looked over Sakura with curiosity in her eyes.

"How about your chakra network? I'll have Hinata come in tomorrow for a more detailed analysis, but for now I'll settle for your self-evaluation."

Sakura took a deep breath and tightened her grip on the apple, staring at it intently. She shut her eyes as she channeled chakra through her fingertips and into the sticky flesh of the half-eaten fruit in her palm. Her consciousness slid along the smooth flow of organic energy, crawling along each cell wall and seeping into every crack within the cellulose. Sakura enveloped the entire apple within the jade glow of her chakra.

The apple crushed in on itself, reduced to wet, grainy mush that dripped through her fingers. Even the seeds were liquid, little brown swirls of gunk that Sakura wiped off onto the sheets.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"I just sort of…figured it out," Sakura said sheepishly, looking at Kakashi for support. He nodded, remembering the moment two weeks ago where she had woken him with a blast of apple guts to his face.

"Hmm…" Tsunade murmured to herself, thinking. Now that Sakura had an uninterrupted flow of powerful, untapped chakra, the possibilities were beyond her imagination. Finding out the new limits of Sakura's ability would be an endeavor, and a fun one, she was sure.

"Well. It's late. You may feel fine, but you have been unconscious and IV-dependent for more than a week now. We can pick this up in the morning. You'll stay here overnight and we'll see about discharging you tomorrow." Tsunade patted Sakura's knee through the sheets and left. Shizune following her out with a polite goodbye.

No sooner than they had left than Sakura was carefully pulling out the IVs and electrodes still stuck to her skin. Kakashi looked shocked, as shocked as one could emote with one visible eye.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting out of here. I feel stiff. Are  _you_ of all people going to argue with me on this?"

"I don't want to be here anymore than you do, believe me," he said, glancing around with distaste as the cold and impersonal walls of the hospital room.

Sakura slid out bed, landing shakily on her feet. Kakashi steadied her before she could fall, and she smiled up at him.

_Refusing to accept things doesn't make them untrue._

Sakura reached up and pulled down his mask, kissing him hungrily. He responded in kind, his lips and tongue desperate for her. When they pulled apart, Sakura was blushing, unable to meet his eye.

"Let's go home, Kakashi."

* * *

They snuck out through the window, Kakashi holding one arm around her supportively as they made their way to her apartment.

When they got there, coming in through the balcony window, the air was cold and stale. Kakashi followed dutifully behind Sakura as she went into her bedroom, flinging open every window to let in the warm, spicy autumn air that would fill every corner of the house. He sat on the bed and waited while Sakura stripped out of the crinkly paper hospital gown and started rifling through the drawers of her dresser.

"I can't believe you're awake and walking."

Sakura shimmied into her underwear and pulled a tank top over her head before she turned around, coming to sit across Kakashi's lap and rest her head against his chest.

"If it makes you feel any better, I really do feel just fine. Great, actually. Like I could run all the way to Suna at a dead sprint."

"I thought you were going to die, Sakura, you were asleep for so long…"

Sakura pressed one finger against his lips, marveling at how soft they were, giving way to the pressure of her touch.

"I wouldn't die on you, Kakashi."

_He better know just how lucky he is to be loved by someone like my daughter._

"I love you too much to leave you like that," she whispered, shy. Kakashi's eyes went wide, a glow rising in his cheeks and his eyes. Sakura's chest swelled with some unnamable warmth and she leaned in to kiss him.

Kakashi stopped her, leaning away just slightly. There was shock, maybe even disbelief, in his voice, but beneath it, daring against itself to exist, was hope.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure, Kakashi, I really am," Sakura said. And she was. Maybe it was the brush with death. Maybe it was the strength and energy she now felt in every inch of her body, brighter and bolder than it had ever been before, making her brave. Maybe it was just the way he had smiled when she said it; but she knew it was true. Sakura knew that she loved Kakashi.

Sakura melted into him, pressing her lips to his, searching. Kakashi pushed back, swiping his tongue against her lips and beyond them. He leaned back into the pillows, and Sakura laid on him, relishing every muscle she felt beneath her. She peeled off her shirt, pressing her breasts against his chest and squeezing her thighs around his hips. Sakura bit Kakashi's lip and he groaned.

Kakashi flipped Sakura to her back, pinning her to the bed with a knee between her thighs. Sakura mewled, grinding herself into his thigh and clenching her nails into his forearms like claws. His face dipped, nipping gently at the skin of her throat, her jaw, right behind the shell of her ear.

"Say it again, now.  _Say it_ ," he pleaded, voice throaty and so desperate it almost brought tears to her eyes.

"I love you, Kakashi," she said, arching her back as he kissed along her collarbone and shoulder, sending shivers sprawling across her skin. Sakura pulled his shirt up and over his head, fingers tracing along the muscles of his stomach and chest, along his throat and into the silk of his hair.

"I love you, Kakashi," she said, as his tongue swirled around her navel and down, spreading her thighs and making her shake with delight. His fingers bruised her hips as he held them aloft, jaw buried deep between her thighs.

"I love you, Kakashi," she said, as he slid into her, forcing a guttural cry from deep within her lungs. Every muscle in her body tightened deliciously around him, warm and needy. She swallowed his moans, their tongues dancing together as Kakashi pushed in and out of her.

"I love you, Kakashi," she said, as pressure built deep in her belly, pleasure and chakra twisting inside and pulling her closer and closer to sweet release.

"I love you, Kakashi," she said, one last time, as she came, clenching Kakashi tightly as she shook, falling to pieces around him.

Later, lit only by the ghosts of moonlight, their fingers danced around each other's as they kissed, smiling, looking into each other's eyes, forgetting for a little while about the world around them.

* * *

In the morning, Sakura and Kakashi woke to the sound of a loud banging on the door.

"What use are you if you don't warn me about people at the door?" Sakura groaned, reluctant to open her eyes.

"I'm not a guard dog," Kakashi said, his words muffled by the pillow his face was buried in.

"You could have fooled me," Sakura said. She stood up and stretched her arms above her head, yawning.

"Be careful, or I might start humping your leg."

"I think you already do that," Sakura said, laughing. She pulled the covers around her tightly as the person on the other side of the door knocked again. She took a moment to appreciate the toned curves and angles of Kakashi's muscles, how his shoulders slid powerfully into his lower back, muscles that made her toes reflexively curl as she thought about them  _straining-_

Sakura shook her head and tightened the blanket around herself, walking briskly to the front door. She yanked it open, expecting to see Tsunade on the other side, ready to chew her out for ditching the hospital.

What she actually saw, however, was an extremely round Hinata and Naruto in Tsunade's tow. Sakura gulped heavily, clutching tightly at the covers around her chest.

"Good morning shishou," Sakura stammered out.

"Good morning, Sakura. Good to see you're up so early, seeing as you made me take the time out of my morning to come all the way out here, and with the poor mother-to-be, too," Tsunade chided, a predatory glint in her eye.

She knew Kakashi was here.

She knew that Sakura knew that she knew Kakashi was here.

She knew that Naruto and Hinata had no clue about Kakashi being here.

When she wanted to dole out cruel and unusual punishment, the Fifth Hokage pulled exactly zero punches.

"I expected this sort of thing from Ino, not you, shishou," Sakura said, blushing. She turned to go back to her bedroom, hoping against hope that nobody would see inside, hoping to god that Kakashi stayed put, or better, slipped out through the window.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Tsunade said, oozing faux cheeriness as she helped Hinata onto the couch.

"Out of respect, I'll pretend to believe you."

_Although_ , Sakura wondered, how long would that be possible, the running and the hiding? How long would it even be necessary? He loved her, she loved him…

And he was leaning against the doorway of her bedroom, dressed in only his low-slung black pants, his black top bundled around his neck and face on top of his shoulders. Sakura stared dumbly at the smooth, sculpted muscles of his stomach, the sharp V of his hips, momentarily unable to move or speak. She could feel the blush rising in her cheeks, hell, she could feel the heat Hinata's blush from several feet behind her. She could even feel Naruto's eyes boring holes into the back of her bare shoulders.

Tsunade was grinning.

Sakura swallowed thickly and grabbed the trailing edges of her blanket, holding her head high and striding into the bedroom. She snatched Kakashi by the waistband of his pants and dragged him in behind her, slamming the door shut.

"Bringing people to  _my_ house...eight o'clock in the morning…not even dressed," she muttered to herself, tearing open drawers and throwing on clothes. Kakashi snorted, pulling his shirt on and over his face and chest.

"Somebody's a little riled up."

"I'm not prepared to answer all of Naruto's questions right now," she huffed, struggling into her shirt.

Kakashi laughed and helped her disentangle the sleeve and pull it on, her head of frizzy pink hair popping out of the neck like a ball of cotton candy.

"I can handle him."

"Please, please do," she said, sighing and yanking her hands through her hair.

Kakashi took her by the shoulders and kissed her, forcing her to stop and calm down. When he pulled away and lifted his mask around his nose, she smiled.

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

Sakura pushed herself to her tippy toes and was just barely able to brush her puckered lips against the underside of his chin, eliciting a throaty chuckle as she stomped back into the living room.

"Morning, shishou."

"Morning again, Sakura," Tsunade said, barely suppressing a laugh as Sakura plopped down next to Hinata on the couch. Sakura turned to look at Hinata, cataloging her skin, the fullness of her hair, the extra weight on her tiny frame and the roundness of her belly.

"I wasn't asleep for that long, was I?"

Tsunade perched on the arm of the sofa, pulling a stethoscope from the deep pocket of her robe.

"Eight days, give or take a few hours."

Sakura looked closely at Hinata as Tsunade continued to check her over.

A few feet away, Naruto was hunched and staring at Kakashi, squinting tightly at him.

"Sooo…what're you doin' here, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I was sleeping, until you interrupted us," Kakashi said, dropping to sit in the armchair, watching attentively as Tsunade checked over Sakura. He didn't care enough to look as Naruto's eyes boggled halfway out of his head when he heard Kakashi's words.

"Whaddaya mean, 'us'?!"

"Us, as in the two of us, sleeping peacefully before you got here and started making noise," Kakashi answered, gesturing lazily at himself and Sakura.

Naruto stood up, scrubbing his hands through his hair and pacing. Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed, looking at Kakashi tiredly.

"I don't know how this is so hard for you to understand, Naruto," Kakashi said, as he reclined in his seat and shot a sly wink across the room in Sakura's direction. "Your wife is expecting, so you've already got the basics of grown-up sleepovers down, I'd think."

Sakura choked and buried her face in her hands. She could feel heat crawling its way up the back of her neck, the tell-tale red of embarrassment. She didn't even need to look to see that Tsunade was smirking behind her as she pressed the cold stethoscope against Sakura's back.

Naruto basically exploded, eyes bugging all the way out of his head while his face went bright red.

"Since when?!" he cried, voice cracking mid-screech.

"Sorry, that information is only available if you have chūnin-level clearance or higher."

"GAH!" Naruto yelled, doubling over with his head cradled in his arms.

Sakura looked up at Hinata, begging.

"Why does he always overreact to everything?"

"He  _is_ quite excitable, I must admit," Hinata whispered, giggling as she watched Naruto tear his hair out. "Naruto, honey,  **sit down** _._ "

Sakura had to smile at the bass that snuck into Hinata's voice as she commanded Naruto to sit. He did so quickly, a smart idea if there ever was one, still glancing furtively between Kakashi and Sakura. She assumed it was as good as time as ever for him to find out – everybody else was figuring it out, one by one, by whatever means necessary, it seemed. Might as well do it in a controlled environment; one where a pregnant, scary Hinata could rein him in.

"Physiologically, everything seems to be in order," Tsunade said, stopping all other conversation and drawing everyone's attention. "Your sinus rhythm is perfectly stable, your airways are clear, and your nervous system is reacting to stimuli as normal."

Sakura let out a long sigh of relief, rolling her neck and cracking her joints.

"Does this mean I can start working again?"

Tsunade laughed at that.

"Of course, the first thing you want to know is whether or not you can return to work. I'll have to run some tests, and monitor your output before I'll feel comfortable putting you back into a hospital setting."

Sakura huffed.

"How long will that take?"

"A few days, a week maybe. I'm not sure, we have to be careful, Sakura. Why the rush?"

"Well, I don't specialize in obstetrics, but doesn't Hinata look a little big to only be 4 and a half months along?"

Tsunade's chin rose immediately to look at Hinata, a critical gleam to her gaze.

"Has your family doctor said anything about your pregnancy so far?" she asked, moving to squeeze between Hinata and Sakura. The change in Naruto's demeanor was immediate. He tore his accusatory eyes from Kakashi and came to stand beside them, worriedly rubbing Hinata's back. Whether it was to comfort Hinata or himself, Sakura did not know. Hinata's head dipped in shame, and she didn't answer.

"Tsunade-shishou, I know the Hyuuga family doctor. No disrespect to family tradition, Hinata, but that man is a hack," Sakura said, grumbling.

"Hanabi's been, like, keepin' an eye on things," Naruto tried to say, defensively. The Hyuuga family was set in its traditions, unwavering to a fault. For better or worse, Naruto  _had_ married into that family, into that faith in tradition.

"Hanabi isn't licensed to practice medicine, Uzumaki," Tsunade said. Her voice was severe as she checked Hinata's pulse. She quickly saw what Sakura had pointed out, signs that were small enough to be missed by someone who had seen her every day. Sakura, seeing the progression without watching it slowly, noticed it the moment Hinata had sat on the couch. There was a slight yellow cast to the cool cream of her skin, an odd laboring to the cadence of her breath.

"Have you been persistently nauseous, Hinata?" Tsunade asked, tilting the girl's head this way and that.

"I have had some persistent morning sickness, my lady, yes," Hinata said shyly.

"It wouldn't be that persistent this far along. Headaches?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Tsunade shot Sakura a meaningful look, one that Sakura return in full. Without a word, Sakura stood up and went back to her bedroom and emerged quickly, dressed in more public-appropriate clothing. Hinata kept her cool, but Naruto was beyond alarmed by the course of events.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?"

"It's nothing to panic about, Naruto," Sakura said, patting him on the shoulder, a tender guise for the subtle grip she used to steer him towards the door before he could protest. "But we just need to take Hinata to an actual physician, just to calm my nerves, okay?"

* * *

Later, Naruto and Kakashi were waiting on a sofa outside of Sakura's examination room, having followed the women straight there from Sakura's apartment. Tsunade and Sakura were inside with Hinata, having instructed the men to stay outside and "please stop looking over my shoulder, you're only making us all more nervous." Shizune had come and gone, rushing too much to stop and acknowledge either of the men.

Naruto's foot was shaking with anxiety, a steady  _tack tack tack_ against the marble floors. Kakashi wished he would just start talking again, instead of the incessant tapping of his sandal against the ground.

"So. You an' Sakura."

Okay. He took it back. He didn't want Naruto to talk. He took it back a thousand times. He was sorry he had ever thought it in the first place.

"Just tell me how long, Kakashi-sensei."

Well, if that's what it took to get his mind off of what was happening behind that door, so be it.

"Why is that so important to you, anyway?"

"Well, like, first of all, you're kinda old."

Kakashi leaned his head back, not even caring when it thunked harshly against the wall.

"I wish you wouldn't say it like that. I end up having to defend myself every time."

"'s not my fault it's a little weird. You were our  _teacher,_ Kakashi- _sensei."_

Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Nothing even vaguely happened while we were all still serving in that capacity, kid, I promise. It's just…," Kakashi sighed. "You know how she is."

Naruto made an annoyed noise and slunk in his seat.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I really liked her when we were younger, 'n I dunno. It's not like I want to be with her or think that would ever happen. Maybe I expected her to end up with Sasuke like she was always sayin' when we were kids? Or fuck, just someone our age. Not you, not like an actual grown-up."

"Is that a vote of no-confidence? Because it sounds like one."

"No, man," Naruto said, a nasal whine in his voice. "I know you aren't a piece of crap or anythin' but…It's just kinda weird. I'll get used to it, I guess," he finished, slouching in his seat.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you, Naruto. Once you survive long enough as a shinobi, things like age stand in the way less. Every year we're alive is a bet against the worst of odds, they're meaningless in most contexts. I love Haruno Sakura, the strongest woman I've ever met, and nothing was going to make that go away."

Naruto sighed and plucked at his fingers.

"If you ever hurt her, I will go full Sage Mode on you, do you understand?"

The threat in his voice was thick, carrying all the future weight of the Hokage title on its back. It almost sent shivers down Kakashi's spine. He really wasn't all that happy about how everyone kept threatening his life in the event that he hurt Sakura. Apparently, none of them realized that he would be the first in line to off himself.

"Understood."

"Good."

They sat there in the quiet for a few minutes more, letting the tension slowly seep away.

"What do you think's goin' on in there, like honestly?" Naruto asked, finally breaking the silence. He twisted his face into a pout and stared at the door as if he was suddenly going to develop his wife's kekkai-genkai and be able to see through it.

"If I had any clue, I'd tell you. But you and I both know that she and the baby are in the best possible hands, whatever it is that's going on."

Naruto groaned and leaned over, putting his head between his knees and tenting his fingers over the back of his neck. Kakashi had no idea what to say, but he tried.

"It'll be okay, Naruto."

He pretended not to hear Naruto's stifled crying, for both their sakes.

* * *

Behind that shut door, Hinata had stripped and redressed in a paper gown, lying prone on Sakura's examination table. Shizune had already been sent off with both urine and blood samples, and the other two women had remained behind to monitor and further examine the newest Uzumaki matriarch.

Tsunade was closely taking notes on Hinata's blood pressure and pulse as Sakura carefully began to use her new, personalized diagnostic tool, under the Hokage's strict supervision, of course. Sakura's eyes were shut, as she sat on her stool directly behind Hinata with her fingers pressed to the pregnant woman's temples.

None of the fear of the last few weeks plagued her now. Every draw she made upon her chakra, every pull of crackling energy was warm and easy. It flowed like warm honey through her soul and through her limbs, calmer and smoother than the lava that had coursed throughout her body for days on end.

She was hunched, concentrating. The soft hum of her healing chakra, a deeper shade of jade than it had ever glowed before, embroidered itself along Hinata's hairline and through her skin, making her eyeballs glow an eerie shade of blue beneath her lids.

Sakura was receding her consciousness from within Hinata's body just as Shizune returned, quickly cutting off Naruto's urgent voice with a decisive  _snap_ of the door. Sakura pitied him. She had seen it before, the stress and anxiety of someone waiting for news on their loved one's health, hoping for the best and fearing the worst. All she could do was attend to Hinata's needs to the best of her ability. Abilities that were, thankfully, outlandishly helpful.

"I rushed the results myself," Shizune said soberly, handing the file off to Tsunade as Sakura peeled off her latex gloves with a chilling snap.

"Thought so," Sakura said, peering over Tsunade's shoulder to read the printed results as she threw the gloves in the trash.

"It was an excellent catch, Dr. Haruno," Tsunade said proudly, no doubt patting herself on the back for training Sakura so well. Sakura had to physically restrain herself from rolling her eyes, trying to maintain some sense of professionalism, if only for Hinata's sake.

"Here, let's get you redressed, Hinata," Sakura said, offering a hand to help Hinata lurch heavily to her feet. She cradled her swollen stomach as Sakura collected her clothes and began to help her back into them.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan," Hinata murmured, not lifting her gaze from her feet as she fumbled into her robes. Sakura was gently tying the kishihimo into place as Shizune finally opened the door. Naruto barreled in with absolutely zero pause, sweeping Hinata into a hug so big that even Sakura was caught up in it.

"Oh god, please let me go, you're crushing us both," she managed to wheeze out, struggling.

"Sorry," Naruto said, releasing them both. "I was just worried," he finished, gently rearranging Hinata's hair around her shoulders and kissing the back of her hand. Hinata smiled weakly and leaned into his arms.

Sakura sighed as she watched them try to comfort each other. She glanced tiredly at Kakashi, not excited for the conversation that was about to take place. Sakura sat back down on her stool and squared her shoulders, ready to deliver the news.

"So, there are some complications with the pregnancy. They're manageable under close supervision, but they are  _serious_ complications, and we're going to have to forego the traditional medicine right now," she said, hoping to impart the gravity of the situation upon them.

Naruto helped Hinata sit back on the exam table, still holding her hand when he turned back to face Sakura.

"Is she going to be okay? Is our son okay?" he asked, voice pleading and desperate.

Sakura drew in a shaky breath as she prepared to answer. Tsunade nodded at her supportively from across the room, and she felt Kakashi rest a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Sakura felt guilty for delivering such bad news, even though it wasn't and there was nothing she wouldn't do to help.

"Hinata is showing some preliminary symptoms of preeclampsia. High blood pressure, excess protein in her urine, struggling kidney function. It also explains the persistent migraines and nausea," Sakura said, pausing to swallow thickly. She had told her patients terrible, awful things before, but to have to tell her best friends that their baby was in danger, it tore at her heart so much more deeply.

"I checked over her system, and over the baby. He's actually the picture of perfect health. He's big and strong, really," she said, hoping to put at least one little positive light in this whole thing. "But he's a little  _too_  big. He's growing faster than he normally should, and Hinata's body is struggling to keep up."

Hinata made a funny little noise in that back of her throat and rubbed her hands protectively over her stomach. Naruto wound his arm around her shoulder and put his other hand on top of hers, possessively, defensively.

"What can we do?" Hinata whispered, her eyes closed as she leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder.

"Unfortunately, it's a persistent condition. It'll resolve itself after delivery, but until then, you're on bed rest and will have to have frequent doctor's visits, either with me, Tsunade-shishou, or an actual hospital obstetrician. No more hack family doctors, understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Naruto said, trying to lighten the mood. Sakura snorted and rolled her eyes, flipping the manila folder shut and scooting to drop it in the rack next to the doorway to her office for later.

"Shizune, would you help them down to the pharmacy and see that they get home?" Tsunade said, less of a question than a command. Shizune nodded and led the not-so-happy couple into the hall and down into the hospital.

Sakura let out a heavy gust of air from her lungs and dropped her head back against the wall. This was not exactly how she had expected this day to go when she had woken up beside Kakashi, her heart so full it felt like it would burst. Now her heart was tired, limping along laboriously.

"It's good to know that you hit the ground running no matter what happens," Tsunade said, crossing her arms and looking at Sakura.

"I do my best," Sakura said, shrugging.

"That was a good performance, considering you want to get back to work immediately."

"Is this you clearing me for duty?"

"This is me telling you I'll make it a priority, but you have to come with me first," Tsunade said, opening the door and beckoning for Sakura to follow her. "And you, Hatake, will report to my office at 5. Don't think you've gotten away with abandoning your mission. Just consider yourself lucky that there were mitigating circumstances," she said, disappearing into the hallway.

Kakashi glanced at Sakura with mild panic in his eye.

"Oh, she'll cut you some slack. You came back for me, right?" Sakura asked softly, standing up and walking over to prop her chin up on Kakashi's chest and look into his eye.

"Your friend Ino sent Pakkun with a message. I didn't stop running until I got here," he said gruffly. Sakura smiled, pushing up to her tip toes to brush a kiss against his chin.

"I wouldn't know what to do without you," she said, whispering into his skin. Kakashi shivered.

"Ahem."

They both snapped their heads sharply to see Tsunade back in the doorway, arms crossed and foot tapping impatiently.

"Today, please. My time isn't infinite, you know."

Sakura blushed and pulled away from Kakashi, already pulling her hair up into a bun in preparation for whatever it was her shishou was about to throw at her.

"I'll see you later," she said apologetically, squeezing his hand and running out after Lady Tsunade.

* * *

"Not this again, I'm begging you."

"Suck it up, Sakura."

"But it's disgusting."

"It's the ethical way to test what you're working with, so get reacquainted," Tsunade said, dropping the dead fish onto the metal surface of the exam table. The wet slapping noise was grotesque. Tsunade had turned the temperature in her official Hokage chambers way down to keep the fish smell from getting out of control, but still, the reek floated into Sakura's skull and made her eyes water, even despite the surgical mask strapped across her nose.

"Can't we just keep doing this with apples?" Sakura whined, hands hovering hesitantly over the scales of the fish. Its beady eye stared up at her accusingly.

"An apple is a plant, Sakura. Did you learn to stitch wounds on an orange?"

Sakura huffed and pressed her fingers against the fish, cringing at the mucky film that clung to her skin.

"What do you want me to do? All I really figured out was how to…dissolve them, for lack of a better word."

"Well, let's start with that then," Tsunade said, pulling a surgical mask into place over her own face.

Sakura shut her eyes and summoned her chakra, pouring it through her fingertips and beneath the fish's scales. She made a face as her senses delved inside of the lifeless thing, the utter emptiness of its cells turning her stomach. She had done this with organic, inanimate objects, and she had done it with living people. This was her first time drenching something dead in her chakra; the fish's tissue sucked at it thirstily, every trace of Sakura's energy flooding through its cells and sinking into them.

Sakura felt like she might vomit.

Beneath her hands, the fish shone with borrowed chakra, beginning to twitch and flop around weakly, squirming under her fingers. It was awful. Sakura pushed, sending another surge of energy coursing down her arms and into the fish. As if they were in her palm, Sakura wrapped each well in the pulses of her chakra and  _crushed._

The fish's flesh trembled erratically and then dissolved into a viscous, grey fluid that pooled in the middle of the exam table and ran toward to drain. Sakura cried out in disgust and immediately began wiping her soiled hands on her white coat.

"Interesting," Tsunade commented, already slapping another dead fish onto the table.

"Disgusting, shishou. The word you're trying to say is disgusting."

Tsunade ignored that.

"Do that again, but don't try to destroy it. Just continuously fill it with chakra."

Sakura shivered, not wanting to feel that hungry sucking sensation of death pulling at her life force, but complied, nonetheless.

This time, as the fish soaked in her chakra, she finely tuned the flow of energy to thread through it nervous system, stitching itself into the tiny neurons of its tiny, rotting brain. Sakura had to bite back a mouthful of acrid bile as the fish began writhing underhand. The wet smacking of its scales against the table was awful. Tsunade and Sakura both started with surprise when the fish, eyes still glassy and dead, began gasping for breath, gills flaring viciously. After a couple of seconds, Sakura pulled her hands away harshly, a move she would never make on a human patient.

The sudden withdraw of energy wracked the fish's body. Its skeleton fractured and warped in on itself, organs collapsing under the thin flesh. Oozy decay leaked from its open gullet.

"I don't like this."

"Why's that?" Tsunade asked, picking up a clipboard and scribbling on it furiously.

"I don't even like zombie  _movies,_ shishou. I don't want to make them myself."

"It would have to stay 'alive' without your touch to be a zombie, I believe. A fictional monster, I must remind you, apparently," Tsunade said, dismissing the childish notion.

"Then what exactly would we call that?" Sakura asked, pointing at the fish and wrinkling her nose.

"I would assume it's something akin to defibrillation, but much more…organic. These fish have been dead for a while, but think of what that type of chakra manipulation could do for someone who's just recently coded, or for someone who's brain dead? What are the limits of the chakra's reach as an organic influence, now that you can bind chakra to blood and organic tissue? And that's just the unknown – what's already clear is that you could almost surely perform open-heart surgery with no tools but your hands at this point."

Sakura bit her lip and considered. She had felt the synapses in the fish's brain firing, albeit absently, in that mushy and degraded hunk of decaying grey matter. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility to consider that her chakra could restart a failed heart, lacing both muscle and blood with lifesaving chakra, or that she could reinstate brain function to someone otherwise incapable of healing that way themselves. The human body doesn't naturally regrow and reprogram neocortex or brainstem neurons, or even most of the related nerves, but this new chakra had already pushed so many of the boundaries Sakura had once seen as immovable truths. What else could she be capable of, what else could she offer?

"And beyond that," Tsunade continued, setting down her clipboard and looking back up. "Could you use this chakra, your blood, as a weapon?"

Tsunade was grinning when Sakura looked up and met her gaze. A smile spread its way across her own face, excitement wriggling in her chest.

* * *

Kakashi was pumping himself up to walk into Tsunade's office when she finally just called out, loud enough to hear through the closed door.

"Will you just come in? You've been out there for ten minutes, and I really am a busy woman, Hatake."

Kakashi rubbed his temples, trying to bide time before the unavoidable headache. With resignation, he pushed open the door and entered.

"Good evening, Lady Tsunade."

"Hello to you too, Kakashi. Sit down," she said, motioning for him to drag an errant chair from its place against the wall to the spot in front of her desk.

"Where's Sakura?" he asked, making Tsunade laugh teasingly.

"You really are a lovesick puppy, aren't you? She's training with Shizune right now, if you must know. Sometimes you have to outsource your work when in this office," she said, tapping a sheaf of papers against the top of her desk and neatening the pile before she dropped it. "You can go find her once we're done here."

Kakashi took his seat and stretched his legs out in front of him, crossing his ankles and sliding his hands in his pockets, looking very much ill at ease.

"In my defense-"

"There  _is_ no defense, Kakashi," Tsunade said, voice biting as she cut him off midsentence. She really had no interest in hearing it, less interest than he even had in saying it. "What if the rogue nin had still been hanging around? You left your squad without their appointed leader, you left them one man short and open to attack. Do you know what a fucking fool that makes you look like? How bad this could make us look? You're lucky that this was only a reconnaissance mission, that Yamato and Sai are capable ex-ANBU shinobi, or I would be ruthlessly destroying every chance at a future you've ever had, Hatake."

Tsunade words were cold, heavy. They were true.

In the moment, nothing had been in his mind except for Sakura, the words Ino had written across the scroll in her delicate script.

_Sakura's been unconscious for three days, and we aren't sure if she'll wake up. I think you know you should hurry._

Kakashi's heart had fallen to his gut, all of the blood in his body turning to icy sludge in his veins. He wasn't even sure if he had said anything to Yamato before he had taken off, running hard for two days until he arrived at Sakura's bedside.

"You're also lucky that I can understand what you went through," she said, disturbing the silence and surprising Kakashi. It was a split second before he caught her meaning, remembering the story of her and her dead lover, Dan. A cold pain wound its way down his spine and into his stomach at the thought –  _what if Sakura had died?_

"I was going to send Naruto as a replacement, but then halfway through writing this I remembered that I just dealt him and his very pregnant, very bedridden wife, which only makes this whole situation more annoying to deal with," she chided, nudging another one of the countless files strewn across her desk. "And I can't send you back out, because there's no guarantee of Sakura's system stability and you apparently can't be trusted to deal with your emotions yet."

Kakashi sighed and looked at his folded hands in his lap. This was brutal, yes, but not so much as he had been afraid of.

"Send the Aburame kid," he said, hoping to get in her good grace with a helpful suggestion.

Tsunade paused her internal anger monologue to look up at him, a pen already in hand and ready to take a note.

"Why should I do that?"

"The Aburame clan's bugs can track both blood and chakra trails, can't they?"

Tsunade squinted her eyes at him, not too keen on taking the advice at someone she was so annoyed by, regardless of how good a suggestion it was.

Kakashi watched as she crossed out Naruto's name in three places, scribbling Shino's name into the margin, not even bothering to start a new mission form.

"Get out of my sight, Hatake."

"Yes, ma'am."


	23. Is This Our First Date?

"Good job, Sakura! Now again," Shizune encouraged, as Kakashi rounded the corner into the private training area attached to the official administrative offices. Usually reserved for Academy students, and the few times Tsunade actually had to entertain official state guests, the empty room was now circled with straw dummies. Sakura was crouched in the middle, her eyes blazing. Kakashi leaned against the doorway to watch, just a foot or two from Shizune.

Sakura sucked in a sharp breath, her calves tensing as she readied herself to jump.

She leapt, pursing her lips and twisting over herself to spit at a wide line of targets. Shiny slivers of metal sprayed at them, hitting their marks with a loud thwack.

"Ah, the Second Hokage's ninjutsu?" Kakashi asked as Sakura landed, wiping her mouth and coughing, a weird hacking sound from deep in her throat.

"It's similar to the Heavenly Weeping jutsu, yes," Shizune replied, nodding absently as she watched Sakura closely. She fell back into a crouch, preparing herself to attack again.

And then Sakura was airborne, and a slew of senbon came whistling right towards the strawmen in front of Shizune and Kakashi.

Shizune ducked tidily, two of the senbon embedding themselves firmly into the wall just where her chest had been. Kakashi caught the one coming for his nose neatly, rolling it back and forth in his hand.

He squeezed it lightly, applying some of his own chakra's pressure to the rigid steel. It melted into oozy red fluid between his fingers just as Shizune stood, neatening the edges of her kimono.

"Well, that's definitely not heavenly."

"Well, no, it isn't exactly," Shizune said, shrugging. "The Second Hokage used his water type chakra for this jutsu. We've modified this for use with blood chakra. So, the needles are more or less…"

"Compressed blood. That's genius," Kakashi said, wiping his hand on his pants. Hit someone with one of these, especially in a chakra point, and it would dissolve into blood indiscernible from the target's. Leaving no traces of evidence behind. "But it's certainly more  _unholy_  than anything."

"Unholy Weeping is definitely a freaky enough name for it," Sakura commented as she approached, pulling her sweaty hair from its ponytail and shaking it out. She hacked at her throat again, spitting little slivers of metal and blood to the floor. "I'll get the hang of it soon, I promise," she said, looking at Shizune tiredly.

"It took me a lot longer than this to be able to use the Prepared Needle Shot Jutsu, and that doesn't even require me to make the senbon myself. You're doing great, Sakura, really," Shizune replied, smiling gently and squeezing Sakura's shoulder reassuringly. Sakura just nodded, making a funny face as she sucked at the bits of steel and blood still stuck between her teeth. She rose a hand to her jaw, flooding her neck and face with a stream of chakra that broke down any remaining senbon pieces and reduced them to blood in her mouth. She swallowed and tried not to gag.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura," Shizune said, taking a polite, shallow bow and leaving the room. As she walked down the hallway, she heard Kakashi murmur something she couldn't quite decipher, and then Sakura's girlish giggle.

Shizune smiled to herself as she continued walking down the hall, turning a corner and making her way up the wide staircase to Tsunade's office.

Lady Tsunade was like a mother to Shizune, in her own, admittedly abrasive, sort of way. Maybe a particularly boozy aunt was a more accurate comparison. Either way, Shizune had both the desire and obligation to serve as Lady Tsunade's attendant in what basically amounted to perpetuity. For Shizune, that was fulfillment and excitement enough, with plenty of responsibility and adventure along the way for her to be more than satisfied with her choice to stay with Tsunade.

However, Shizune had always known Sakura was meant for something different. The tools Tsunade gave to her would be applied in other ways. The woman Tsunade had helped her become would live a different life, and Shizune was glad for it. To hear Sakura laugh like that, after so many years of her shouldering through things by the pure force of her own will, was a gift the whole Village should be glad to receive.

Shizune came onto Tsunade's floor and stopped in her own office, a snug little corner affair that was warm with sandalwood incense and medical textbooks. She gathered a few obstetric texts Tsunade had requested into her arms and left, kicking the door shut behind her with her foot and opening Tsunade's with a sharp hip-check.

"You know, it's really cute how – Lady Tsunade?"

"Mm," the Hokage grunted from somewhere beneath her desk. One weak, weaving arm rose from below, sloshing cup in hand, as if to say, ' _here I am, very inebriated and, quite possibly, in need of assistance. Not that I'll ever admit it, of course_.'

Shizune dropped the books onto the desktop with a loud  _thunk_  and rounded it, carefully kneeling to the concrete tiles. There, leaning in defeat against the drawers with a bottle of sake tucked between her folded legs and tears glistening on her cheeks, was Lady Tsunade, drinking heavily and staring out of the massive windows with a cold and vicious stare.

"Lady Tsunade, you should really stop drinking when you get like this," Shizune said softly, reaching for the slender neck of the sake bottle. Tsunade let her take it without a fight. She didn't even look at Shizune, only nodding her head over so slightly as she continued to stare out of the window. Shizune screwed the cap back on and slid it safely back into its drawer, pushing Tsunade a little in the process.

"I'm just so tired of this all, Shizune. I'm tired of cleaning up messes made by idiotic men even older than me. I'm tired of tallying up death tolls going back decades. I'm tired of picking up the pieces left behind by these incessant wars," she said, her voice flat. Papers were scattered on the floor around them, where she had thrown an entire stack of files violently against the window in her anger. Even as Tsunade spoke, fresh tears began to spill their way down her face.

It was a harsh, disgusting kind of beauty that graced her face as she cried.

Shizune couldn't do much else but hold Tsunade's hand, offering a thin blanket of comfort in the silence.

They sat there, surrounded by piles of death certificates and KIA notices, for hours.

* * *

Dusk had already begun to fall when Kakashi and Sakura left the Hokage's office complex, spilling out of the back entrance and into the chilly autumn evening. Sakura shivered, goosebumps popping up along her arms. Kakashi wrapped one warm arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close against his chest. Sakura smiled into his shirt.

"Hey," she said, murmuring into the soft fabric.

"Hm?"

"I love you," Sakura said, peeking up through her eyelashes and smiling shyly. Even in the darkness, her eyes sparkled.

Kakashi smiled behind his mask and stopped to sweep Sakura up into his arms, making her squeak with surprise.

"I love you too," he said, kissing her on the nose and making her blush. Without warning, he shot off into the air and back towards her neighborhood. Sakura whooped and hollered with excitement, hooking her arms around his neck and screaming for him to go faster, laughing the whole way.

This was what Kakashi had been starving for his whole life.

To be wanted.

To be needed.

To be someone's peace and happiness, if even just for once in his entire life.

When they finally reached her balcony, Sakura catching that damn potted plant before it could fall, he was smiling so hard his face hurt.

* * *

The next morning, he actually slept in, at least compared to usual. Days on end in a stiff chair at Sakura's bedside had left him creaky and exhausted. Kakashi didn't wake until well after sunrise, to the sound of music and crackling oil outside of Sakura's bedroom. He sat up among the pillows, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

Sakura had drawn all the curtains, letting light cascade into the apartment completely unhindered. Saturday was already her usual cleaning day, and that wasn't when her apartment had been locked tight for over a week, without even Mrs. Kobayashi coming into to water the plants and air the place out. She'd been up for hours already, wiping down dusty surfaces and throwing out the spoiled food in her kitchen. Now the house was flooded with the warm air of the autumn morning and the smell of furniture polish. Even Kakashi's clothes had been washed and folded, set aside for him on the armchair wedged in the corner of the bedroom.

He rolled out of the bed and began getting dressed, oh so mysteriously unable to find his shirt.

It didn't take long for him to find it, as he nudged open the door and leaned against the frame, smiling lopsidedly as he watched Sakura.

She was wearing his shirt and dancing in the living room, momentarily distracted from the fish grilling in the kitchen. She was twirling in place, hair fanning around her like a pink whirlwind as she spun in pirouettes, spinning faster and faster as the piano reached its crescendo.

When Sakura stopped, flicking her hair out of her face and reaching her arm delicately to the ceiling in fourth position, she flushed deeply to see Kakashi standing there and clapping appreciatively.

"Stop it," she said, walking back to the kitchen and pretending to ignore him.

"I didn't know you  _danced,"_ he teased, following her into the kitchen and leaning against the bar. Sakura huffed as she flipped the fish in the pan.

"Tsunade insisted I learn ballet because I was too heavy on my feet."

"Are you telling me you're a prima ballerina? Is there a tutu in the closet that I should know about?"

"No," Sakura said, haughtily, plating the grilled fish and walking past Kakashi with it, towards the table. She slid it next to a bowl of rice and two smaller bowls of miso soup, set for their breakfast. "There are a few pairs of pointe shoes, though."

"Oh, you'll have to perform for me sometime," Kakashi said, grinning.

"I'll give you a sneak preview," Sakura replied sweetly. She slid her foot gracefully behind her, arms outstretched to either side, and then pushed from her back foot and threw herself into a tight pirouette. Just as fast, she lashed her foot out at Kakashi's face in mid-spin, only allowing him the slightest moment to dodge away from her incoming heel. The air whistled as her foot slammed through the space just in front of his nose.

Kakashi caught her ankle in his hand just before it was able to make impact, smirking back at her and her stuck out tongue. His smirk was predatory as he kissed her ankle, her calf, the side of her knee, creeping in closer until his lips were on hers and her hip was clenched in his massaging grip.

* * *

Later, Sakura was curled up at the end of her couch with Kakashi's feet in her lap as he stretched across both armrests, he himself lost in his book. At one point, Sakura had been painting her toenails, but any hope of finishing had gone right out the window once Kakashi had dropped his heels on her legs and pinned her in place. Now, she was entertaining herself by painting  _his_  toenails instead. A very becoming shade of pastel pink, with a cute little black pawprint on his big toe. Very in character, Sakura thought.

"What do you think?" she asked when she was done, screwing the nail polish shut and trying not to laugh.

Kakashi glanced over the top of his book, gaze even and unaffected. His face didn't change when he lifted his foot and twisted his ankle this way and that to appreciate her work.

"You should charge for this. Next time I want a shuriken, though," he said, wiggling his toes.

"I'll keep that in mind," Sakura said, finally succumbing to her giggles. She checked that his nails were dry and then pushed them out of her lap, standing up and walking over to open the balcony door.

The afternoon breeze wafted in and embraced her. Sakura loved fall in Fire country. She loved the way the air carried a spicy note between the strands of her hair, the way the sun lit the hills on fire. The afternoons were always mild, the breezes inviting you to follow them. Sakura suddenly itched to be outside.

"Hey," she said, kneeling on the ground beside where Kakashi laid on the couch.

"Hi there," he said, turning the page nonchalantly.

"Would you be interested in taking those bad boys on a walk, showing them off a little?" Sakura asked, tilting her head towards his feet and looking at him with big, puppy eyes.

"I take it that  _you're_ interested in taking them on a walk?" he replied, already marking his place and shutting  _Icha Icha._

Sakura bounced to her feet and skipped into her bedroom, not fooled by his sarcastic tone of voice. She was already changing by the time she answered.

"It's nice out and we've both been locked inside for a week, we should get some fresh air, get our blood moving," she said, coming back out of her bedroom fully dressed and handing Kakashi back the top she had worn all morning. He slipped it on over his head and drowned happily in the smell of her skin and shampoo, like being buried in a field of flowers. "Doctor's orders."

"Mm, well I can't refuse those, now can I?" Kakashi asked as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her just behind the ear.

"No, you absolutely can't," Sakura said, turning in his arms to kiss him quickly on the lips before pulling his mask up and over his face.

She made short work of bullying him into the rest of his clothes and out of the door, locking it behind her. Sakura now had a sneaking suspicion that Ino would crawl her way into Sakura's apartment as a lizard if she could, and Sakura had no intention of ever giving her the chance. If Ino wanted to snoop, she would have to come and do it herself, being the regular type of sneaky, like a dignified human being.

Sakura turned to follow Kakashi, already on his way down the stairs. She smiled to herself watching his petal-pink toes going down each step.

"So where are we going, then?" he asked, opening the door at the bottom of the stairwell and holding it open for Sakura as she adjusted her skirt and stepped out into the daylight.

"I need groceries, but I'm hungry, so we can start with that," she said, locking the door behind them.

They took off down the road, Kakashi following in lockstep, just behind her and to her left. They continued like this for a few minutes until Sakura stopped mid-stride and grabbed Kakashi by the elbow as he walked right past her.

"What?" he asked, spinning a little on his heel as she caught him by the fabric of his shirt.

"Why are we walking like this?"

"Like what? Quickly? I'd think that's just an occupational hazard."

"No, I mean like you walking behind me, Kakashi," Sakura said, sighing. "This is me, formally insisting that we pretend we're a normal couple doing things the normal way," she finished. Sakura reached down to intertwine her fingers with his, wrapping her other hand around his upper arm. Neither of them made eye contact, both blushing just a little. Kakashi, not used to such public displays of closeness and affection, and her, not prepared for how naked she felt, open to other peoples' prying eyes.

Sakura shook her hair out of her face and held her head up high anyway, determined not to falter. It wasn't like people expected her to be single forever. And Ino had had her fair share of boy toys, right? It's not like people had lost their minds when she had strutted around with Genma glued to her hip or anything, so this would be perfectly fine.

That's what she kept insisting to herself as they walked along, anyway.

It took little to no time for her to be proven wrong.

People were shooting them little astonished glances at every step. She did her best to ignore it.

They ran across Shikamaru and Ino first, as they walked through the market district and along a street of small cafés and restaurants. The moment Ino saw them, hand in hand, she basically started screaming, right there in front of god and everyone.

"SAKURA! Kakashi-sensei!" she called out, waving her arm wildly in the air.

Shikamaru had the same expression of tiredness on his face that Sakura did as they approached. Ino's charm laid in her boisterousness, but sometimes it could be more troublesome than it was cute.

"Aren't you two just the cutest thing?" Ino gushed when they were close, absolutely beside herself with smugness. She had known first, after all. A Yamanaka always does.

Sakura disentangled herself from Kakashi immediately, embarrassed. Yes, they were the cutest thing, but that didn't mean Sakura wanted Ino screaming in her face about it. And in public too? People were beginning to stare.

"Are you guys on a  _date?_ Oh my gosh _,_ Sakura, is this your  _first date?!_ "

Sakura grabbed Ino by the hand and dragged her into the nearest restaurant, assuming that the boys would follow.

"Nice pedicure, dude," Shikamaru said, laughing a little as he dropped his cigarette to the ground and crushed it beneath his heel.

"Nice ponytail, man. Does Yamanaka do your hair for you in the morning?" Kakashi retorted, the smirk that hid behind his mask still abundantly clear in his voice alone. He followed the girls in, not giving Nara the time to come up with a sufficiently snarky reply. Kakashi knew that it would probably eat at him for hours, not that he'd ever admit it and show it through his blasé expression.

Kakashi heard Nara grit his teeth even as the little bell over the door rang above his head.

Sakura was already seated at a little table tucked away in the corner, rubbing her temples and desperately trying to keep Ino from taking the seat across from her. Kakashi managed to slide into the chair just underneath Ino's arm, earning a little pout from the girl.

"Good _bye,_ Ino," Sakura said again, glaring at her.

"Fine, fine, I'm leaving," Ino said in a sing-song voice. "Have fun, lovebirds. Don't do anything too kinky in public!"

Sakura glared after Shikamaru and Ino as they walked away, and Kakashi had to stifle his laughter when Sakura whipped the top off of the steaming teapot, fishing out a little handful of scalding tea leaves. He had to admit that there was something really great about being with someone younger than you. For example, it meant that sometimes he got tangled up in situations where Sakura would throw a clump of wet tea leaves at the back of her best friend's head and then drag him out of the restaurant's back door. Kakashi barely even had time to throw down a little pile of ryo for the tea before Sakura was pulling him outside and they were running.

Sakura was laughing so hard she had to double over and clutch her stomach when they stopped, on the roof of a building a couple of streets over.

"Did you see her face?" she managed to wheeze out.

"Priceless," Kakashi said, smiling.

"She's going to smell like tea all day, oh god, she's going to kill me but-," Sakura tried to say, standing up straight and wiping the tears out of her eyes.

"But it was worth it," he finished, turning his head slightly. Ever so faintly, he could still hear Ino yelling about her hair and stained top, even from this distance. Kakashi took Sakura's hand and started playfully pulling her in the other direction.

"Let's get farther away before they come after us."

"But what about lunch?" she asked, following him anyway. Sakura had no inclinations to pull her hand out of his before she absolutely had to.

"I have a better idea," Kakashi said, turning back to wink at her.

* * *

"This  _is_  so much better," Sakura said, leaning back against the rough bark of a tree and propping her elbows on her knees as she tore open the plastic wrapper on her third rice ball. The red bean paste was sweet on her tongue, melting on her lips. A gentle wind carried the scent of drying grass and old leaves across her face and through her hair. Sakura took a deep breath and sighed happily.

Kakashi had told her to stop and pick up anything prepackaged and then meet him here, in this tiny clearing hidden deep, deep in the forests, clear on the other side of the Village from the training grounds and almost completely undisturbed. There were no broken trees or fractured acres, and the woods still teemed with birds and tiny creatures. It was so hidden that Kakashi had had to mark it for her on a map, even as close as it actually was to the town's edge. Sakura had a hunch that Kakashi probably even had this area sealed to prevent random passersby from crossing through. Why else would he have sent her on an errand, besides to give him the time to unseal the spot and make it so she could enter?

And she was glad for it.

It was beautiful.

The field was a perfect circle of trees surrounding a pool of richly green grass. At the edges, late summer sunflowers and coneflowers reached to the sky like bright golden flames. At their bases, bleeding here and there through the emerald grasses, were copses of anise and salvia flowers. Their blend of pale and deep purples was dizzyingly beautiful, like an organic network of veins throughout the natural garden. Tall, fluffy dandelions dotted the expanse here and there. The licorice-like smell of the anise blooms wafted comfortingly throughout the entire field.

Kakashi and Sakura themselves were sitting in the middle of a blanket of snowy white chrysanthemums, eating wrapped rice balls and fruit out of a paper bag. Sakura was leaning back against a tree, and Kakashi was stretched out on his side, one hand propping up his head as they both watched all of his ninken run around the field like wild animals. Which, Sakura supposed, was more or less the point. What use would they be if they were too polite?

Except for Pakkun, of course, who was curled up by her hip. He had come over, asked about her shampoo, and then promptly fallen asleep nestled against her leg and the flowers.

"Of course it is. When have I ever been wrong?"

"You've been wrong every time you've tried to walk on a broken leg."

"Okay, medical negligence notwithstanding, when have I ever been wrong?"

Sakura laughed into her food, almost choking on the mouthful of rice. She had to suck down a few icy gulps of water before she could breathe again.

"I knew I was funny, but I didn't think I was  _that_ funny."

"Shut up, Kakashi," Sakura said, still giggling. She kicked him playfully in the shoulder with her toe, just enough to make him roll over dramatically in the grass. Kakashi patted her foot affectionately and ignored the push.

"How did you find this place?"

"Oh, you know, the normal way. Taking a walk," Kakashi said, sitting up and scooting over to Sakura's side.

"On one of the many, many occasions you were late to meet us for training, I'm sure," Sakura replied, smirking.

Kakashi's movements woke Pakkun, who gave him a very intimidating glare before snuggling back down between their thighs. Kakashi did his best to apologize, holding out a little bit of cantaloupe for Pakkun to sniff at.

"You gotta do better than that, Boss. What is this, rabbit food?" Pakkun said, after giving it a very long and distasteful sniff. "Where's the jerky?"

Sakura had to laugh at the look of utter defeat on Kakashi's face.

"Aw, don't be that way. Here, I know you'll like this, I promise," Sakura said, wiggling a piece of sliced watermelon under his nose. His beady little eyes crossed over themselves trying to look at it, positioned so close to his snout.

"Why's it smell like shampoo?" he asked suspiciously.

"Pakkun, shampoo smells like  _this,_ " Sakura said with exasperation. " _This_ is the thing that grows out of the ground. Now try it, before I have Kakashi wash you with  _dog_  shampoo for a  _month_."

It took every ounce of Sakura's self-control not to burst into laughter at the face Pakkun made. The totally aghast expression, the expression of someone who had been utterly and completely betrayed, was just absolutely ridiculous on his tiny pug face. Her cheeks went red and laughter climbed up her throat just looking at him.

"I can't believe the nerve-" he growled to himself, but he took the little piece of watermelon from Sakura's fingers anyway. His sharp little teeth bit the crisp fruit in half, and he chewed it carefully, staring distrustfully at Sakura and Kakashi.

"Well?" Kakashi asked, already knowing the answer. He knew his little family well.

Pakkun didn't give either of them the satisfaction of an answer and just dragged the little plastic cup of chopped watermelon over to his spot in the chrysanthemums and proceeded to ignore them.

Sakura laughed and relaxed back against the tree, leaning her head over onto Kakashi's shoulder.

"We should have just come here in the first place," Sakura said.

"I know," Kakashi said, sighing. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? For what?" Sakura asked, sitting back up and looking at Kakashi in confusion.

"It's my fault people are so dramatic about this. Do you know how many people have threatened to kill me over you already?"

Sakura swung over to sit in Kakashi's lap, kissing him lightly on the nose and trying to make him smile through the heaviness that had settled in his eyes.

"If they're being dramatic, it's only because they're jealous. I can't imagine how many women's dreams I crushed by holding your hand in public today."

Kakashi snorted humorlessly.

"It's quite a few  _men_  who have threatened me with bodily harm at this point."

"Okay, well, I don't know what their problem is. But I know that you could take any of them in a fight, so I'm not worried."

"I know what their problem is," Kakashi said, a chuckle in the back of his throat as he squeezed Sakura's backside tellingly. Sakura squealed and twisted out of his grip, falling onto her back in the grass. Seeing his opportunity, Kakashi leaned over and began to tickle her stomach, making Sakura convulse and lapse into tears of laughter.

Eventually, Sakura forced him to stop, capturing his face in her hands and pulling him down for a long, deep kiss. When she let Kakashi pull away, after what could have been either seconds or hours, he could really only stare down at her with awestruck silence.

Sakura's silky pink locks were fanned out on the ground beneath her, twining and twisting among the tiny ivory chrysanthemum blossoms. Her soft cream skin was flushed as pink as her hair, her eyes unbelievably bright and sparkling against the verdant grasses stretching around them. The Byakugou in her forehead glinted like a crystal, shifting between a deep reddish-purple and lilac as sunlight filtered onto her angelic face through the leafy treetops dancing in the breeze.

"You really are  _so_  ridiculously beautiful, and it's like you don't even know it," Kakashi said, almost whispering.

Sakura's flush reddened even more, and she turned her face to look away from him while her cheeks burned furiously.

"Stop it," she said, drowning in her shyness.

"No."

Sakura pouted and whined, wriggling underneath him. Kakashi let her slide out and sit back up, moving to snuggle back into Kakashi's side without looking him in the eyes. The blush on her cheeks and throat still raged.

"What's  _really_ beautiful is this place," Sakura said, trying to change the subject.

Kakashi wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hummed in agreement. He hadn't been sure of showing her this place at first – it was a secluded spot that he had kept secret for a long, long time. It was like a sanctuary for him, somewhere he could go to relax alone and in relative quiet. Those were things it seemed like he rarely got these days, hounded as he was with missions and invitations to hold public office.

And yet, it was like Sakura belonged here. She fit in so perfectly with flowers and the trees, soft and beautiful like the blossoms, solid like the oaks.

This was the field, after all, where he had imagined them curled up together and watching what had to have been their children, running around and playing with the ninken.

Even now he could picture it.

It played every chord of his heart that it possibly could.

"Just imagine living here," Sakura said, not noticing how Kakashi's grip on her shoulders tightened every so slightly as she all but read his mind. "Yamato could build the nicest little cottage right there, and you could just wake up to this every day," she finished, leaning more heavily into Kakashi's side and yawning, eyes sliding shut.

And imagine it, Kakashi did.

He could see it in his mind's eye, a wood cabin with bright curtains and a cherry blossom tree in front. He'd finally have somewhere to let the dogs run around whenever he wanted. Somewhere to raise a family, if Sakura wanted. If he dared.

Somewhere that would be home, for him and Sakura both.

"You did want me to remind you to move out of that apartment complex," Kakashi said, eyeing her closely to gauge her reaction. He was almost embarrassed to think about how much suddenly hinged on how she replied to this single, innocuous sentence.

Sakura smiled to herself, nuzzling deeper into the folds of Kakashi's shirt.

"We'll have to ask Yamato how much he charges," she said, quietly, but honestly. Kakashi could tell. At least, Kakashi hoped.

It certainly wasn't a no.


	24. Keep Your Eyes Open

Sakura woke, a few hours later, curled on her side in the pile of chrysanthemums with her head in Kakashi's lap.

It was already twilight, and here beyond the edges of the village, the stars were bright in the night sky. The cooler, crisp evening air was cut through by a quiet fire that crackled a few feet in front of here, bordered by a ring of stones. Kakashi was reading quietly by the light of the fire, carding his fingers through her hair absent-mindedly as he leafed through each page.

Sakura just laid there for a moment, blinking and trying to acclimate her eyes to the bright flames that leapt out at her from within the darkness.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he murmured, flicking his eyes down at her over the edge of the book.

"Mm..doesn' look like morning," Sakura said through her yawn, sitting up and stretching. She tried to crack her joints, hissing in pain as she felt the stiff crick in the base of her neck. She rubbed at her shoulder and neck tenderly. "How long have I been asleep?"

"A couple of hours, give or take," Kakashi said, shutting his book and tossing it to the side, where it landed not on grass, but on a pile of fabric. "Long enough for me to go get that."

Sakura turned her head gingerly to look, wincing as the crick in her neck twinged painfully.

At some point during her little nap, Kakashi had found the time to go back into town, rummage through his deceptively large closet, and come back with an entire tent. Including sleeping bags and blankets. Sakura wouldn't have been surprised if moving all of this by himself had taken two trips, and yet he had let her sleep instead of waking her up to help.

"Did you leave me sleeping on the ground? Is that why my neck hurts?"

"No," Kakashi said, barely stifling a laugh. "I left you sleeping on Bull, actually. Pakkun said that you moved onto the ground when Bull started drooling on you."

Sakura made a noise of disgust, now painfully aware of the wet spot on the back of her top.

"You're so lucky I think those dogs are adorable," Sakura said, rolling her eyes. She looked around, twisting her head this way and that, looking for the ninken. "Where'd they go?"

Kakashi shrugged.

"I'm not sure, exactly. Wherever it is they come from when they're summoned, I suppose."

"Aww, why'd they go back?" Sakura asked, beginning to rub at her aching neck again.

"It's late, they tend to do that when they're tired," Kakashi said, amusement twinkling in his eyes. He nudged Sakura's hand aside, beginning to work at the tight and twisted muscles of her neck. She could feel the tension along her cheek and scalp begin to loosen, like a series of rubber bands snapping loose along her spine.

"Mmm…," Sakura moaned, leaning into Kakashi's grip. "But we're staying no matter how tired one of us may be, huh?" she asked playfully.

"Didn't want to risk Yamanaka exacting her revenge on us tonight."

"Mhmm, have you been thinking of that excuse the entire time I was sleeping?"

"Not the  _entire_  time. I  _was_  planning on saying that there was a leak in your apartment, but by the time I finished setting up the tent I realized you would run to check and then kill me when you found out I was lying."

"I'm glad the Sharingan gives you such impeccable foresight," Sakura said, turning around and kissing him. She moved, shifting into his lap, savoring the slow, languid movement of their lips against one another's.

Sakura was at peace, sunk into the feeling of their kiss, blanketed by the crackling noises of the fire and the cicadas. The brisk night air caressed them, as summer fully gave way to autumn, the heat ushered out on a delicate breeze. Sakura's soft hair danced around their faces, and she laughed as it tickled Kakashi's nose, making his face twitch like a rabbit's. She kissed the tip of his nose and leaned back in his lap, a smile on her face as the wind swirled around them.

Kakashi stared at Sakura, this woman, this gift from heaven that had fallen into his hands, mesmerized beyond words.

Her face and skin were lit aglow by the luminescence of the moon, eyes sparkling like they gave shelter to every star in the skies above. The wind blew through the fire, through her hair. The raging flames seemed to melt into the whirlwind of her reddish-pink hair, as if she and the flames were one, a vision of beauty and power that threatened to blind him, threatened to tear at every edge of his existence.

It felt like a moment that dragged on forever, as Kakashi stared at Sakura, slack-jawed.

To her credit, Sakura pretended not to notice as he pretty blatantly stared. She leaned back in to land another kiss on the corner of his partially parted lips.

Sakura stood and walked over to the fire, nudging carefully at the burning wood with her toes, just enough chakra channeled over her foot to avoid the vicious tongues of flame licking at her sole. She shimmied the half-spent logs deeper into the ash and detritus at the bottom, banking the fire for the night. When she was done, there was just enough warmth and light for a night spent sleeping in the woods.

Another soft, chilly breeze tousled its way through the trees and across the clearing. Sakura shivered, beginning to unconsciously rub at her arms.

Kakashi stood too, holding out his hand for Sakura to take and leading her into the tent.

She immediately dropped to the ground, nestling herself in among the blankets and sleeping bags, happy to be at least sort of "indoors" and comfortable. Sakura wasted no time in pulling off her slobber-soiled shirt and burrowing into the covers. Wind still buffeted gently at the fabric walls, as if trying to rock her into a hazy state of contentment. Kakashi crawled in beside her, easily taking up all the space that had remained. In the darkness, the light of the fire glinted curiously against his eyes, the Sharingan catching the ghost of the flame within it, glowing eerily against his skin.

Sakura reached up and threaded her fingers along the side of his face and into his hairline, spilling chakra into his skin and into his skull.

"Wha-"

"Hush, honey," Sakura said, eyes scrunched shut and attempting to ignore him. Kakashi had to keep himself from laughing at the very out-of-character nickname. Sometimes it still amused him how much of a maternal side Sakura could show…although amusement wasn't the only feeling that her behavior evoked. Again, that pang of desire coursed through him, that deep pull toward Sakura, not only as a lover but as a home, as his family, as what he had refused to admit he wanted for so long.

Mentally, he cursed Kurenai. It was her fault that he was thinking about these things now.

Well,  _mostly_  her fault. At this point, even Kakashi couldn't deny that some of these desires were deep-seated, things he had tried to ignore for the longest time.

His train of thought was derailed when something that Sakura did made his eye begin to burn like it was on fire. Unable to control his gut reaction, Kakashi jerked backward, hissing through his teeth and slapping Sakura's hand away. Even without her hand pushing chakra into his face, his eye continued to burn, as if acid was riding its way down his optic nerve.

Luckily, Sakura didn't take offense to having been pushed away. It wasn't the first time Kakashi's fight-or-flight reflex had kicked in during a medical procedure. And it didn't even begin to approach how bad it had been on the day she'd had to rebreak his femur to set it properly, in the field, because he'd avoided telling her about it for three days. He'd shoved her hard enough to break her nose and had felt so bad that he bought her dinner for a full month afterward.

"What the hell was that?" Kakashi said through gritted teeth, clutching at his face and pressing his fingers against his closed eyelids, desperate for relief and hunching over into himself. Sakura shuffled over to him on her knees, taking him by the shoulders and forcing him onto his back in the blankets.

"Over time, just like anything, your body started acclimating to the constant pain until you became numb to it. The Sharingan also has some self-preservation instincts, sort of, numbing you from realizing how much pain you're really in. But for it to do that, it has to be active…which only means that it's degrading itself more," Sakura said, one hand still pressing him onto the ground by the shoulder, the other returning to his temple and flooding his eye with chakra.

She fine-tuned the flow and frequency, drowning Kakashi in a loud, numbing hum that washed cool relief down the insane network of chakra channels that embroidered themselves into his brain.

Just as before, the nerves connecting his strained eye to the center of his brain were run ragged, raw and sensitive to every bit of visual input. The pressure in his eye throbbed underhand, and Sakura carefully began to soothe and fiddle with his nerves.

Compared to before the alignment, her chakra was infinitely more curious. As it slunk through the channels within the Sharingan, Sakura traveled along with it, blindly sensing every wall and chamber, every pathway and branch of chakra and neural electricity.

Kakashi's chakra shot back and forth from brain to cornea like…well, like lightning. Each crackling slam of organic energy scraped just that much more at his nerves, edging his eyeball closer and closer to organ death and, at the very least, partial blindness, if not complete. As the nerves and chakra channels degenerated, any pulse of chakra could be the one to finally tip the scales; the one to blast his eye and primary visual cortex into useless, liquid tissue.

Sakura couldn't entirely restructure the genetic nature of the Sharingan, couldn't stop it from doing what it had evolved to do. Couldn't keep it from self-destruction.

What she could do, however, was to stitch together a fine mesh of her own chakra; an organic sheath of foreign energy to hold in those pulses of lightning chakra and protect any other parts of his brain from damage.

Hypothetically, anyway.

But not here, in a dark tent, at twilight in the middle of the forests. That would be something done in the hospital, after many, many hours bent over medical texts, making sure she wouldn't hurt Kakashi. Sakura would rather cut off her own hands than hurt him. She knew how much the Sharingan meant to him, what it represented. Sakura would give anything to preserve it for him.

She didn't know what it would do to him to lose it.

Or worse, she probably did.

And Kakashi seemed so  _delicate_  just then. The curvature of his skull so fragile beneath her hand, the faint trembling of his jaw as he fought against the instinct to pull away from Sakura's pressing hands and humming chakra. She knew that the pins-and-needles sensation was better than the burning pain, but it was no less disconcerting to feel pouring over your entire head and neck. Sakura wouldn't be surprised if the drenching of her chakra had temporarily blinded him, as it reached across every cell of his optic network and wriggled in through every soft protein wall, attempting to repair as much cell damage as possible from the inside out. Even from above, he looked very unsettling, the jade wash of her healing jutsu covering every feature of his corneas. No iris, no pupils, just a blank, greenish glow that filled the entire tent with a haunted light.

Sakura was going to take her time, intent on fixing whatever she felt was safe to do in these conditions. Yet, they  _were_ safe, more or less, cozied into a sturdy shinobi-issue tent in a fūinjutsu sealed field, within running distance of the hospital. It would just be  _so_ much easier if he would calm down, at least just a little.

Slowly, careful not to disrupt the methodical workings of her chakra flow, Sakura repositioned Kakashi to lay more comfortably. She pulled his head into her lap, his hair tickling at her stomach and the edge of her chest bindings. Sakura laid her legs along the sides of his body, smiling when Kakashi threaded his arms under her bent knees and rested his hands on her shins. Their warmth reassured her that he was conscious and that nothing she was doing was interfering with any other brain functions. Even outside of her focused chakra stream, whirling its way down his optic nerves, she could feel the millions of tiny synaptic firings across his brain.

"So, why did you decide that we were staying here tonight, anyway?" Sakura asked, hoping to help Kakashi relax by talking to him.

"Mmm…" Kakashi hummed as if thinking carefully over his answer. Sakura waited patiently, still very much preoccupied with her meticulous chakra work.

"Would it be selfish of me to say it's because I wanted to keep you all to myself for a little while longer?"

Sakura refocused her blank stare to look down at Kakashi, his face a deep scarlet already. She realized that he was blind still, very much unable to see her face. For a man so used to hyper-precise vision, able to discern and distinguish every twitch of the eyebrow, every quirk of the lip, this was probably tantamount to torture. Sakura smiled hugely to herself, gently squeezing her thighs against him in some bastardization of a hug. Being mindful not to jostle her hand from its place against his scarred cheek, she leaned over to kiss Kakashi, his nose brushing against her chin as she dropped her lips lightly against his.

"It's the best type of selfishness there is."

There was a soft and comfortable silence as Sakura continued, beginning to finish up with her work. She was frowning when Kakashi was finally able to see her again, the garish glow slowly ebbing to the edges of his vision.

"What's wrong?" he asked, trying not to sound as concerned as he really was. Being in denial, he had long since learned, was a semi-effective treatment for most injuries. Well, if you were mostly just hoping to avoid the doctor's office, anyway.

"I'm not happy with it. Your retina is still swollen, and I'm not even vaguely prepared to try and regrow your myelin sheaths. I don't even know if that's ever been done," Sakura said, chewing on her lip. "If it was going to be that easy, I'm sure the Uchiha clan would have figured it out already."

Sakura sighed and let Kakashi sit back up. He turned around, letting Sakura crawl into his lap and wrapping his arms around her snugly. He propped his chin on the top if her head and began tracing his fingers lightly over Sakura's bare arms, goosebumps rising beneath his fingertips.

"I wish I could ask Sasuke about it. He probably wouldn't have any answers but…I don't know. It'd make me feel better."

Kakashi leaned a little heavier into Sakura when she said this, the breath exiting his lungs heavily. He tried not to show it, but still he prickled at the mention of Sasuke's name. It brought up so many complicated emotions; the fact that Kakashi almost considered him a  _romantic rival_ was among the least of them, as stupid and twisted as it probably was. What was worse, was the fact that Sasuke was still three sheets to the wind. Tsunade never received confirmation that he had found the Blood. Whether they had killed him, or if he had fallen under their control, was yet to be seen.

"I'm just glad you can use your healing jutsu again," Kakashi murmured. His words drifted into her hair, making the little tendrils of strawberry frizz twirl around in the waves of his breath. "I don't know what I'd do if I had to actually start going to the  _hospital_  again," he said, voice light with fake horror.

Sakura snorted.

"Oh, you would  _absolutely_  just die instead."

Kakashi gasped in mock offense, dropping his hands from Sakura's arms to her ribs and tickling her relentlessly.

"I can't believe you'd just let me die like that," he said, grinning down at her.

"Oh, oh…ahahah, just…stop it!" Sakura squealed, giggling and trying desperately to escape his clutches.

Outside, her frantic giggles were drowned out by the wild screaming of the cicadas and dying snaps of the fire, until they eventually faded, becoming nothing more than soft moans.

* * *

_Ah, so his eye is damaged._

_A good omen, even if the girl has come into her power now._

_Don't close your eyes, boy._

* * *

The next morning, they woke to the sounds of bird song. Chirps and whistles rained down on top of the tent, flicking at their unconsciousness until they woke up.

Light leaked its way in, in small rays through the mesh netting on top of the tent. Kakashi's eyes opened first.

Morning sun and little dust motes danced around in the air above their heads, making a soft and dazzling aura. Sakura's bare shoulders shifted with every breath she took, her deep magenta eyelashes fluttering as she began to rouse. They tickled her cheekbones like little purple spider legs.

When her eyes finally opened, like gleaming jewels as she yawned hugely, Kakashi smiled to himself.

This was something he could wake up to every day. Sakura's smile, Sakura's hair spilling over her pillows and his, Sakura's warm body so close to him, close enough to reach over and stroke her cheek, gently, reverently.

Sakura laid her hand over his, dragging her thumb across the back of his hand and nuzzling into his palm.

"Good morning."

"Good morning," Sakura said, stretching her legs. Bundled inside of the same sleeping bag as they were, she ended up kicking Kakashi's ankles and tangling their legs in the blankets. Sakura started wriggling her way out of the sleeping bag, making Kakashi chuckle.

When she was out, Sakura unzipped the tent's door panel and stumbled into the clearing outside. The sun sparkled off of her shoulder as she reached over her head and rocked from side to side, cracking her back and shoulders. She was dressed only in her black shorts, that clung to her curves like oil slick, shining along the bend of her hip. When Sakura turned back around, she crossed her arm shyly over her breasts, as if only then suddenly aware of her level of undress. The movement made Kakashi snort, and Sakura rolled her eyes as she clambered back in.

"Shut up."

"Why? It's not like it isn't anything I haven't seen before," he said, while Sakura slung her leg over him and sat in his lap, still holding her arm across her chest. She blushed and leaned down to kiss him.

"Shut up."

* * *

 

_Does this hurt to watch?_

_Is that blood rolling down your cheeks, boy, or is it tears?_

_You shouldn't have come back if you didn't want to do what I asked._

_Your suffering is just another idle scream among the orchestra._

* * *

It was another hour or so before they were packed up and ready to head back to the Village, both of them starving. Sakura had spent the entire time they were rolling up the tent making a grocery list, repeating it to herself over and over again until Kakashi threatened to leave her there.

But now she was reluctant to leave.

The sun was warming the ground, making the fragrance of the anise flowers rise again into her nostrils, the gentle sway of the yellow sunflowers begging her to stay.

"We're going to come back here, right?" Sakura asked, turning to look down the length of the field.

This spot was a magnet for those playful autumn winds, it seemed, as the flowers and trees twirled around everywhere in a dizzying and magnetic dance. It was just so peaceful and serene.

Kakashi walked around and slung an arm around her shoulder, kissing the side of her head softly.

"Of course. I'd build a house for you myself if you asked," he said. The words were quiet, falling from Kakashi's lips and to Sakura's ears like a fearful prayer. Sakura looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"Are you serious?"

"I'd definitely try to get Yamato to do it first, but yes. I'm serious."

Sakura dropped the bags in her hands and wrapped her arms around Kakashi's middle, pulling him so tightly to herself that his back popped. She was blushing and unable to meet his eyes when she pulled away, covering her smile with her hand and looking around the clearing.

"I can already see Mirai and Naruto's kid running around here like wild animals," Kakashi joked, rubbing Sakura's back and propping his chin on the crown of her head.

"I can see a whole  _bunch_  of kids running around  _this_ place," Sakura said, sweeping her arm grandly across the expanse of grass and flowers. There was a beat of silence before Sakura's entire body flushed like she was inflamed.

"Well, I-I mean," she stammered, unable to force out a coherent sentence.

"So you  _do_ want kids, then," Kakashi said, continuing to rub Sakura's shoulder and trying to comfort her.

"I do, but," she said, pausing and thinking back to that horrifying coma dream, the one that had ended with a face full of her father's blood. Before that, though, the conversation, however imagined, was meaningful.

"I'd like them, but I'm not ready to start planning my life around one. If it happens, it happens, but I'm not going to become someone's housewife when I become someone's mother."

"You know I'd never ask that of you."

"I know."

They stood there for a few minutes longer, embracing each other and imagining all the possibilities that could flourish in that fertile soil. It would have surprised them both, and pleasantly so, if they had known how similar those hopeful stories were.

* * *

_Does it feel like you've lost something?_

_Lost all of the possibilities of what you could have had, the lives you could have lived if you had accepted the love of either of the two who loved you? A family of cherry blossoms, or a life of love that bathed in the sun?_

_You chose war. You chose revenge and you chose isolation. You left behind the boy in the sun. You left behind the girl in the flowers._

_You chose war and so be it, boy._

_You are a weapon to draw Blood, Sasuke, just like the rest of us._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everybody! I just wanted to say thank you, to everyone who has left kudos or bookmarked this story. It means so much to me, to have so many people enjoy and support my work. 
> 
> Please, if you would, take the time to leave me a little review. Nothing makes me so happy as seeing what y'all think of the story, and I really, truly appreciate it so much. 
> 
> Thank you so much, and I hope I keep putting out work that you enjoy reading!


	25. The Smell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: graphic depictions of violence.

Have you ever had a head wound? The serious kind, the kind of head wound where you only exist miles away from your hands and legs, drifting airily above the blood that pours into your mouth and bathes your tongue?

The kind where the blood is so thick upon your cheeks that not even the tears can wash them away?

* * *

It was a wound that would not heal.

The thin crack in the rock overhead, the one that let in the slightest rays of light, also let in a steady drip of salty ocean water, somehow seeping into and through the craggy flesh of the island. Every drop landed into the carved flesh of Sasuke's forehead, refusing to let the seal etched into his face heal.

Each one fell perfectly in the middle, trailing down the bridge of his nose and beside his lips. It cut one clean, ghostly line down the center of his face; a once-perfect face now marred by deep cutting and caked with layers of congealed blood.

For once, he was asleep, his sore and inflamed eyes finally shut.

Yet not even sleep could calm his mind. Not anymore.

* * *

_"Please don't leave me!"_

_Words rolling off of two tongues, screams spilling from two mouths._

_It wasn't as if he could stay. Nightmares still roamed the streets, still leapt from light post to light post. Sasuke couldn't walk two feet into his own inherited home without the bodies, the bloodied dirt. Couldn't spend 5 minutes in public without twitching for his sword, wondering who would come for his head next, wondering who had known, who had been complicit in this suffering that ran through his clan like a disease._

_Could suffering be genetic? Could it have infected Sasuke, like it had infected the rest?_

_It was a question he could have asked Sakura…if he hadn't left her._

_Left her behind, refusing to accept things he didn't think he deserved. Refusing to accept things that felt like chains to a place that sickened him worse than any congenital defect._

_It wasn't only Sakura that Sasuke had left behind though._

_What about Naruto? What about the way he had asked, pleaded,_ begged _for him to stay, on his knees, fists buried in Sasuke's shirt and sobbing into his shoulder?_

_Either would have loved him, would have lived their entire lives knitted intimately into his._

_"Please don't leave me!"_

_Sasuke is there, now, with Naruto, in this memory-soaked dream that only serves to shred his heart._

_The wood of the floor is pressing painfully into his knees, and Naruto's tears are hot as they collect in Sasuke's collarbone. He isn't sure which burns more against4 his skin, is it his tears…or the ghost of Naruto's lips on his?_

_Sasuke doesn't know, because both are chilled by the cold wind when he leaves. Naruto's sobs still echo around in his mind. They followed Sasuke out on that frozen breeze, chilling him right down to the bone._

_What had he ever done to deserve so much tenderness?_

_And then, in the way dreams so often do, the world was stolen from beneath him, flipping gravity over on Sasuke's heels until he was_ there _again, stomach falling out of his gut as he stared into Sakura's tear-filled eyes._

_"Please don't leave me!"_

_It was a scream. It was a cry from the depths of her very soul, tearing through the air with a force that was pink and bloody._

_"If there's even a little corner of your heart that still thinks of me, please-"_

_Her words are drowned out by the shrill screams of wind that still cradle Sasuke's skull. Even so many years later, he doesn't know what this black, liquid feeling in his heart is; what noxious fume inside of his lungs it is that drives him to do what he does next._

_Maybe it is hatred. In every shinobi head plate, he can see Danzo's reflection, see millions of disfigured Sharingan staring back at him. See Itachi's lifeless, bloody eyes boring endlessly into his own._

_Or, maybe, it's just more of that self-hatred. More drenching himself in denial of any goodness. Did he deserve Sakura's devotion? Did he deserve her affection? All he had to do was reach out, touch her cheek, and all would be forgiven._

_All he had to do was touch her._

_Gently._

_Maybe even reverently._

_But of course, he doesn't do that._

_He_ does  _touch her, just not in any of the kinder ways that he should have._

_Sasuke doesn't even remember what it was that he said. The only memories supplied to him were the ones of his fist going through her ribs, the bones splintering underhand, blood and viscera sliding over his skin like a sticky, membranous sludge._

_Ah, this is what it felt like to tear through lungs with your fingernails._

_Sasuke had almost forgotten._

_Sasuke went right through her. He sank into her chest, up to his elbow, his shoulder, neck and cheek. He could feel her ribs cutting his flesh, felt her organs stain his clothes._

_And then Sakura was gone, and he was tumbling in darkness._

_And wasn't he always?_

_Wasn't Sasuke_ always  _falling over himself into darkness, into nothingness, into isolation, seeking retribution…against what? The village? Danzo? His brother?_

_Himself?_

* * *

"Open your eyes, boy."

The dim, dank cave echoed with the sound of Ichiro's palm against Sasuke's cheek. Ichiro's hand came away smudged with red, dirty with the grime of Sasuke's suffering.

When his eyes opened, the red of his Sharingan had bled into the whites, overtaking the sclera with a vile shade of red. His heart began to pump, cursed blood flowing through his body and throwing the tomoe of his left eye into dizzying spins.

He blanched as he began to  _see,_ watching through Sakura's eyes as Kakashi held her, kissed her, touched her in ways Sasuke had never allowed himself to.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he tilted his chin up to look at Ichiro, the back of his head scraping against the etched stone surface of the large Blood Seal. He was chained there now, by a complex array of seals drawn with his own blood, all held in place by the Blood Seal carved above his eyebrows.

Ichiro bit his own thumb, pressing the pearled drop of blood between the calloused pad and Sasuke's jaw.

"I've had enough of the girl for now. There's nothing to be gained from this. We must see through the other now."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, wincing as Ichiro's chakra ate its way down through his skin and into the bone, reaching across his skull and leeching its way into his eyes.

He tried to fight against it, tried to push away the acidic force that creeped its way along his every nerve. But Ichiro's chakra was too much, too deeply embedded in every fiber of Sasuke's being. There was nothing he could do.

* * *

_The smell._

_The smell of decay never really left her._

_It clung to every pore. Stained the very strands of her hair, sinking its way all the way down to her ankles._

_Manami lived in it, breathed in it, slept in it._

_Dreamed in it._

_And the dreams are always the same._

_And they always start like this._

_Manami smelled it before her eyes even opened. In the dreams, the smell was hotter and heavier, like it made its home inside of her bones._

_When Manami's eyes opened, she was staring at the ceiling, those rafters that were more and more rotten every time she returned._

_She slid out of the bed, little more than a pile of stiff blankets, thick with the scent of human sweat and fear, shoved into the corner farthest from the bodies. On the far side of the little house, what remained of her mother and father had started congealing into one fleshy, maggot-ridden mass._

_Manami felt the urge to go over there. To crouch next to their decaying bodies and pick out the bugs that had taken up residence, as she had done when the little wriggling specks of white had first begun to appear._

_But she didn't, hearing the whispers of Akio's voice inside of her mind, telling her not to get too close – it was bad luck. Get too close to a dead body, and it might try to steal your soul so it may walk again._

_Funny, how much that superstition had come true for him._

_But he wasn't here, not now. He hadn't been, not since the night he had died, slice nearly in half. The Leaf traitors, the ones who had come and destroyed everything, they hadn't even given him time to react, cutting through his spine and killing him before he even hit the floor._

_Saya had had to stitch together his spinal cord carefully, three days and nights spent with her eyes closed and fingers dancing, coating his body in her own slick Blood chakra and turning the corpse into a puppet._

_Manami tried not to gag._

_It was a farce, really, this little game her brain played with her. Letting her dream but leaving her all of her thoughts, all of her memory, all of her consciousness._

_Cursed to live all of her life in a lucid nightmare, trapped in a child's body and watching maggots infest the rotting flesh of her mother's stomach._

* * *

"Wake up, sweet girl."

Her eyes were closed again, but the smell of death was not so thick upon her palate. What struck her more was the heady scent of linseed oil, cloying inside of her nostrils and driving her up and away.

Manami opened her eyes to see Saya looming over her, the sunlight above making the little red curls of her hair burn brightly in the sun; as if her scalp was encapsulated by a shroud of flame. Or one of blood.

Manami dragged in a deep, startled breath, lungs filling with that scent, the linseed oil Saya used to treat her puppets. It drowned her, taking her right back to when Saya had been turning Akio, taking the boy she had loved her whole life and turning him into  _that thing-_

Manami scrabbled backward on her elbows, pulling painfully at her long hair as she dragged herself across it.

"Don't call me that," she spat, getting herself to her feet and away from Saya. Manami didn't miss the expression that swept quickly across her face, a look of both sadness and resignation. But she absolutely ignored it. Whatever bond it was that Saya imagined they had; it didn't exist. Maybe once upon a time, back when Manami had needed someone to clean the knots and rotten flesh from the matted tresses of her hair, but not now. Anything that had once been between them had evaporated into the air with the fumes of that goddamned oil.

"Yes, Manami," Saya said, sighing. She pushed herself up, bracing herself more heavily on her knees than she had ever remembered doing.

The hate, the anger, it was aging her. Saya could feel it deep in her bones. So many years, years stretching almost two decades back unto her childhood, had passed since she had sunk into the Blood. Once, it had been her only family. It had been her mother and her father, her brothers and her sisters, a new web of blood ties that didn't exile and try to assassinate her, but accepted her.

What was it now, but chaos for chaos' sake?

Their family decimated; their ranks infiltrated by who knew how many false disciples; how many other options did they have left? With a soul driven by the loss of two villages, Ichiro had set them loose to seek revenge, a search for equivalent exchange of blood and suffering.

Now, their journey was coming to its end. Saya could feel it. The hunter-nin sent by the Villages were closing in, having gained the advantage the morning Manami had collapsed.

She had fallen from a high branch while they were still working their way through the border of Fire and Water country. Saya hadn't been able to catch her in time, and Manami had hit at least a dozen branches before smashing into the wet leaves collecting on the forest floor. She could still hear her own screams echoing around the trees, watching the last of her family, her only remaining sister, fall to the ground in a death dive.

But it was only Manami's arm that had broken, not her neck or spine, when Saya had caught up to her fallen body not seconds later. But for eight days she had remained comatose, so useless that Saya had been forced to drag her to a nearby cave and seal themselves inside of it. She had been ready to leave the poor, pathetic sweet thing for dead when her veins had begun to burn, the tell-tale sign of Ichiro attempting to summon her attention.

It was then that Saya had learned that Sasuke had also collapsed. Ichiro, hiding in the Ketsu Isles with the stone Blood Seal, had seen the massive blast of chakra that had wreaked its havoc on the stone, and through it, Manami and Sasuke. So Saya stayed, healed Manami's broken limb with petrifying chakra and waited.

With Sasuke so incapacitated, Ichiro had used his Blood jutsu to use Sasuke's eyes. And that was when he had seen through Manami's eyes, and Sakura's, sensing both women's surroundings even as they were blind and unconscious to it.

That was when they had learned her name, in fact. Sakura, not Iho. A Leaf-nin, as so apparently was Sasuke. Ichiro had watched on in building, pressurizing anger as he saw through the flower girl's eyes. He had listened to the Hokage herself speak, heard tell of what had been strategized in the Leaf's battle against the blood.

That was the only way Saya had been able to avoid capture, of course. Ichiro had known when the silver-haired shinobi returned to his village, had known that the rest of his squad had started their search for Blood in earnest. Had known about that boy with the bugs, the ones so good at sniffing out Saya's puppets.

She wondered, eyes flicking quickly back over her shoulder to glance at the only one left, strapped to her shoulders, which scent it was that drew the bugs so steadfastly towards them. Was it her chakra flooding through its rot-frozen bones, or the blood coagulating in its tissues? There was only so much linseed oil she could work into the petrified skin, only so much she could do to mask the scent of decay that always clung to it, clung to her.

"We must go soon, sw-…Manami. We cannot risk the hunter-nin coming too close. Lord Ichiro expects more of us still."

"I know," Manami said, her voice biting. She hunched over in place, pulling the glossy black curtain of her hair away from her neck. The thick scar that ran down the upper crest of her spine, Manami's sacrificial seal, was burning alight with a feverish glow. "He expects us right now," she said, muttering darkly.

Saya silently handed over a soothing balm from the pocket of her dress, knowing better than to try and help Manami herself. After quickly glancing around to be sure they were well and truly alone, in this small copse of trees, Saya leaned back against a wide trunk. Her eyes rolled up into her head, the bulging vessels that clung to the back of her eyeballs pulsing sickeningly in the air.

* * *

**_You are still in the woods._ **

_Yes, my Lord Ichiro, we were just about to set out on our path. My apologies._

**_The Uchiha is_**   ** _losing his strength. The Seal takes his blood, his chakra, as long as he is bound to it._**

_I understand, my Lord._

**_You must work quickly._ **

_Yes, my Lord._

**_It is almost over, Saya. But they must feel what we all felt, what all of us, the weakest, the civilians, suffered at the hands of the Villages. And then you will bring them here._ **

_Yes, my Lord._

**_Go. Now._ **

* * *

Saya came back into her body with a start, choking on the breath she dragged into achingly empty lungs.

When her vision swam back into focus, Manami was twirling her massively thick braid into a wide knot on the top of her head, keeping the ends of her hair from sticking in the balm smeared across the back of her neck. She reached nonchalantly above her head and snapped a twig from the branch that hung there, shoving it through her hair and pinning it in place.

"Are you ready yet?" Manami asked, rising to her feet and brushing the leaves and dirt from her clothes.

Saya pushed herself upright again, feeling the weight upon her small shoulders. Obligation still beckoned at her soul, dragging her forward unto war. She readjusted Akio's crumpled, preserved corpse against her back and stood.

"Yes."

* * *

"Up, Sasuke."

Sasuke jerked awake as Ichiro flicked him harshly against his mangled forehead. Sasuke squinted, trying to focus on Ichiro's looming silhouette.

"What now?" he hissed.

"Your Blood sisters are making their move. This time, I will be watching."

Sasuke's face twisted into a snarl, as if trying to scrunch his eyes shut and deny Ichiro what he demanded.

"You know that's useless."

Ichiro grabbed Sasuke by the face, covering his airways and pushing his head into the stone. Sasuke grunted, wincing at the sharp pain that wracked his skull, traveling all the way to his toes like an electric jolt. He opened his mouth and bit down on the fleshy bit of Ichiro's palm, teeth only tightening in the meat when blood began to run into his mouth.

"Ah, if only I cared."

Ichiro clenched harshly to Sasuke's biting jaw, snapping his head against the stone. Sasuke began to swim in and out of consciousness, utterly unable to put up a fight any longer.

Redness bloomed across Sasuke's vision, taking away his senses of the present as Ichiro took control of his mind and burrowed his way through Sasuke's brain until he saw the scene he wanted.

* * *

"There's no time to waste with taking them somewhere else, Saya. Don't be so difficult. We can avoid them for the most part."

"I am not comfortable with 'for the most part', Manami. Our orders were not to spare the young  _for the most part._ It does not behoove our cause to suddenly slaughter the smallest of children."

Saya tried to stare back at Manami with as much force and anger as the younger could muster, but she fell flat. Mamani's pupils danced fuzzily in their irises, the sclera of her right eye flushing as a single ruddy tear spilled, almost elegantly, down the side of her wide, flat nose.

"I don't believe Lord Ichiro gives a damn about niceties anymore, little  _alley cat,"_ Manami said in a patronizing tone. "We can leave the saintly martyrdoms to some other pathetic souls."

Saya sighed and dropped the bundle from her back. It hit the roof beneath her feet with a loud thud, and both women could hear the first pre-dawn stirrings from the house below as the noise radiated within. Manami wiped the bloody droplet from her face, twisting her lip with disgust at Saya as she began unwrapping her puppet.

Manami wasted no time in moving away, slithering lightly from rooftop to rooftop like a shadow, until she was perched on a gazebo centered in the middle of the tiny town. She crouched on the blue-lacquered roof like an animal, her hair falling around her in a sheet of oily snakes. As the sun began to rise its way over the horizon, a vapor began to ooze its way out from beneath the curtain of hair, sweating its way to the ground and creeping between each blade of grass.

Saya sat heavily on the edge of the roof, dangling her waifish legs into the air as she started rolling her wrists.

The Akio puppet rose behind her, a gaunt silhouette shielding her from the thin light of morning. The shadow of its cape surrounded her like the wings of a giant vulture. For a moment, she felt cradled, alone and far away from the horrors of what she must do. But then the length of the cape fell, and sun began to stream around her shoulders once again, time refusing to grace her with any favors.

The door beneath her opened first, much like the last time; it was a strategy, tried and true, after all. Below, a young woman waded into the thick, purple, ankle-deep vapors. It began to wind its way up her calves and beneath her skirt as she stumbled forward, glancing blearily from side to side as if looking for whatever noise had woken her.

Saya's shoulders sagged as she heard the feeble cries of a baby from within the house.

So, a young mother, probably looking out expectantly for the milkman that was supposed to be coming; the milkman almost surely already felled by the tendrils of Manami's hellish mists. Twitching her hand just barely, and keeping a close eye on Manami, Saya sent Akio down. Through her chakra senses, Saya quickly checked through the house, assuring that it was otherwise empty. She kept staring at Manami as the puppet locked the door behind itself, sealing the mother out before the vapors' poisons took hold in her blood. Saya was lucky: her bet that Manami would avoid looking in Akio's direction entirely paid off handsomely.

It wasn't long before Manami achieved her ends. The mist sunk its way in through door gaps and cracked windows, ruffling curtains and thumbing at blankets. Noises of confusion spilled out of each house, bodies flooding quickly behind them. They stumbled out of their homes, calling out to unhearing ears as their senses were clouded by Manami's jutsu, blinded with debilitating nightmares.

Saya multitasked, using one twirling hand to use Akio's corpse to herd the fumbling, distraught children back into their homes when she could slip him past Manami's deadly gaze. In the other, she released a sharpened kunai that attached to the inside of her sleeve with a shiny red ribbon, coating the razor-sharp blade with her blood as it slid across her palm and into the wet, sticky grip of blood-slicked fingers. One by one she pierced the chests of blinded villagers, filling their hearts with her dark Blood chakra and wresting control of their bodies from weakened minds.

Their terrified faces turned, awash with anger.

Manami creeped to the edge of the gazebo roof, peeking her glowing eyes over the edge and leering over Saya with a horrifying smile that carved its way up her cheeks until her teeth glowed. She watched with obscene, unbridled joy. Saya had watched, for weeks, as Manami became more and more unhinged, haunted by Akio's corpse and haunted by her nightmares, reveling in the blood and gore until she no longer cared to wash it out of her clothes. Now, her mania bordered on insanity, her very body becoming Death walking.

Beneath her, Saya's captured puppets, this murderous hoard of living dolls, began to turn on each other, on the other blind and confused villagers. Without the preparations time had afforded to them in the other villages, the villagers were not chosen for their strength or provided with weapons. Saya chose them as opportunity allowed, taking whoever she could catch into her jutsu.

Teen girls clawed at the eyeballs of grown men, ripping at their faces and flinging bony pieces of their skulls through the air. Old men took women by the hair, dragging them from their curled-up piles on the street and ripping out chunks of scalp.

Manami cackled with glee as she watched a boy, one who couldn't be more than ten years old, launched himself at the middle of a woman on her knees, clawing at her hair and screaming to the heavens. He flew through the air and landed on her fleshy stomach in something almost like a tender embrace, until he began goring through the fat of her stomach and pulling out her entrails until they decorated his body like garlands of macabre tinsel. Her laughter reached manic heights, an ungodly screech as the child tore into the ripped liver with his little teeth, teeth that flashed brightly as they scissored through the steaming flesh.

Drawn up in the fervor, Manami tumbled over the edge of the structure and landed nimbly on her toes. Her eyes were two effervescent rubies as she scurried between the brawling bodies, reaching her sharpened fingernails into flesh like claws, grasping curiously around the insides of forgiving flesh that parted underhand and released the Red Seas.

* * *

Sasuke roused, seeing Ichiro through one eye and the horrors of the Blood Sisters' vengeful murders through the other.

Sasuke's teeth still nestled into the meat and tendons of Ichiro's palm, blood beginning to coagulate between Sasuke's teeth.

Ichiro's head was tilted up, looking blankly into the cascading needle of light, looking irretrievably deep in prayer. His long, thin fingers stretched around Sasuke's chin, now sickeningly gentle as he lost parts of his consciousness to the Sharingan's Bloodied surveillances.

Sasuke growled angrily through his clenched jaw, biting harder through Ichiro's hand until the ligament snapped between his teeth.

Ichiro slammed back into himself with a hideous scream. He yanked his injured hand away from Sasuke's face and punched him full in the nose with the other, throwing as much physical force and chakra behind the fist as he could. The cartilage cracked and Sasuke's head slammed into stone, and he finally fell into absolute blackness.

* * *

It was over almost as quickly as it started. Bodies were crammed in the little unpaved streets, twisted over each other and soaking up the blood that was beginning to dry in the dust. The screams of young children seeped out of the houses Saya had managed to lock, as they peeked over the windowsills and saw their eviscerated families lying limp on the ground.

Manami was finishing off the last remaining villager, relishing the scent of fear that leaked out his pores. She took deep pleasure in toying with him, twisting out every ounce of awfulness she could manage. She held a sharp kunai against his throat, giggling and lapping up the spicy beads of sweat from his forehead.

Saya grimaced, more than a little disgusted with Manami's behavior, and settled down on her knees to arrange Akio's gore-soaked form into a shape more appropriate for traveling. Something was turning her stomach, a force inside of her pushing at her nervous system. It filled her with a growing sense of unease. She was just beginning to unroll her tape when she heard Manami's guttural scream of pain, followed by a wet death gurgle from the man in her arms.

Saya dropped the bandages in her hand, whipping around and pulling her own weapon from its sheath strapped to her thigh.

The boy was collapsed onto his back, the kunai that stuck out of his throat releasing a vertical spurt of blood as his heart hammered through its last beats.

Manami was doubled over near his corpse, clutching at her face and shrieking. With her neck craned so, Saya could see the burning seal on the back of her neck, a violently red light that glared in opposition to the sun. Even from the distance of several feet, Saya could smell Manami's flesh burning, the scent of rancid copper and cooked meat.

Saya lurched toward the younger woman, leaving the lifeless puppet behind. She grabbed Manami's wrists and yanked, forcing her to look up.

Manami's face was twisted into a grotesque display of pain, the skin around her eyes a fiery red. Her eyes were damp with tears and running with blood, as several vessels along the bottom of her eyelids burst from the sudden pressure. Manami cried out unintelligibly and blindly, irises glowing eerily as chakra raged through them. It was then that Saya recognized the ebb and flow unease in her chest, the pressure building in the base of her skull. It was a surge of Blood chakra, the familial energy slamming through all of them that remained connected, remained alive.

Saya, Unsealed as she was, only felt mildly ill at ease. The outpouring of energy into her system twisted her insides and thudded inside of her head like a migraine, but it was something she could tolerate.

Manami however, was debilitated, slumping over and screaming into her hands as her eyes burned.

Saya yanked her pouch off of her waist, tearing the strap and spilling everything across the grass between them. She raked through the pile of items, unearthing a flask of water, the last of the water she had saved from the hot spring in the underground caves, imbued with cleansed chakra and healing herbs. Saya unscrewed the cap and again forced Manami's hands away from her face, pouring the water into her eyes and soothing them as much as possible.

Manami's shrieks quieted into pathetic moans as her vision started to clear, but only barely. Everything she saw was still ringed with red, fuzzy and fading into black nothingness at the edges. She gasped for breath, squeezing Saya's hand so hard that her knuckles began to crack.

"What the fuck?" she snarled, breathing haggard. She clawed at her face, trying to scrub away tears, but in her desperate anger only succeeded in scratching fresh gouges across the side of her cheek. Saya gingerly pried away from her vice-like grip, beginning to scrabble together everything she could manage to shove back into her dress pockets and glancing around on high alert.

Saya stood, pulling Manami up with her by the hand. She looked around with distaste, not happy with how much she was going to have to leave behind. There was simply no time.

"We must return to the Isles. Something is wrong, Manami. I can feel it, even my veins burn with it."

"Do I look like I give a damn about your  _veins?_ " Manami sneered, her grip beginning to crush Saya's within in her own. Saya wrestled out of Manami's clutching fingers.

"As much as I would like to let you hurt me, sweet girl, I still need my hands."

Saya looked around again, listening closely to the sounds traveling in on the breezes.

There.

She heard it.

The faint, subtle buzz of millions of tiny beetles.

Far, far too close for comfort.

"I told you  _not_  to call me that," Manami said, leaning over and weaving in place. Anger clouded her soft features, her crippled eyes flicking this way and that as she searched for Saya. She lunged in the direction she thought Saya stood, drunk with pain and anger. The murderous rage that always smoldered inside of her had crested into a bonfire, burning away any reason she once held. The surge of Blood chakra that had slammed through the seals, carried on the link of Sasuke's Sight, had seared something into her brain.

Saya stepped aside cleanly, biting her lip and glancing back and forth between Manami's stumbling and Akio's corpse. She sighed, dropping the ribbon-bound kunai from her sleeve again and letting is carve a fresh wound across her mangled palm.

Another day, another loss.

* * *

Yamato was running, jumping from branch to branch and barely keeping up with the two younger Leaf-nin ahead of him, and two Mist-nin behind. He groaned internally, thinking about his bad luck, as usual.

He  _would_ get stuck with the two least-talkative shinobi possible, Sai and Aburame. Shino  _never_  found it prudent to get chatty, and Sai apparently took that as a mild relief and decided to enjoy his own reprieve from the usually stilted back and forth.

Aburame's beetles had caught the scent of the Blood's chakra. When he had alerted Yamato to this, it was the most he had ever heard the kid speak at once.

* * *

_"We should not underestimate these kunoichi, Yamato-taichou."_

_"And why is that?"_

_The kid held out his hand, palm up and full of lethargic, dying beetles. Yamato could of sworn that he sniffled behind his hood._

_"They were the first scouts to sense their chakra. It infected them, did this," Aburame said quietly, turning his hand over and letting the dead bugs fall to the ground like hail. "Whatever it is that crawls in their veins, it is very, very dark."_

* * *

Now, Sai and Shino raced ahead of him, closing in quickly on the source of that scent. This close, the stench was able to waft its way up even Yamato's nostrils, the stench of blood dancing in the leaves. Up ahead, the trees began to thin as the squad approached the village.

What Yamato noticed first was the silence, an unsettling lack of noise to be floating around such a large settlement this late in the morning. As they broke through the last of the trees, the second thing he noticed was the miasma of death.

It is hard to describe what death, death so fresh that it's still warm to the touch, really smells like. Not just yet like spoiled meat or rampant decay, no deafening buzz of rot-eating flies.

It's a smell like when you're swimming, sun glittering on the water and heat burning your cheeks, and you feel seaweed tangle around your foot.

A smell that feels like when you're running down the stairs, and you miss that last step, and all you can imagine is your skull crushing into pieces against the incoming floor.

What strikes you most is the haze of piss and shit, of a hundred bowel released as muscles relaxed in death. Then it's the blood, a thicker, stronger coppery smell than the one that trailed behind the Blood-nin, but the same smell nonetheless. It saturated everything, even the very bark of the trees.

As they descended, sounds began to emanate from the houses, as if animals were trapped inside. One of the Mist-nin walked over to a window and rested his hand against it to look inside, then jumped back with something between fear and surprise when a tiny hand slapped against the other side.

"There are  _kids_  in there," he breathed, eyes wide with disbelief. Immediately, every man began running to door, slamming their bodies against them until they gave way. Slowly, they began to round the children into a loose group, shying them away from the corpses of their mothers and fathers, their brothers and sisters, and even the rare child, caught up in the confusion before it could be saved.

"Sir," one of the Mist shinobi said, approaching Yamato with a hand pressed respectfully against his brow. "The...one of the children said the women only left very recently. Less than ten minutes."

Yamato braced his feet against the ground, preparing himself mentally.

"Take the children somewhere safer," he said gruffly, making eye contact across the square with Sai and Aburame and jerking his chin.

Shino tilted his head back, as if to sniff the air. He turned west and flitted out of sight, Sai moving quickly behind. Yamato nodded somberly at the Mist shinobi and then took off behind them into the woods.

As he followed, the smell got thicker, took on an edge of stinking wood resin. There were little splotches of blood on the ghostly white flesh of the birches they jumped across, the brittle branches twanged beneath their sandals.

"Careful-" Yamato began to call out, but it was too late. Sai landed on a delicate branch and it snapped underfoot, sending him falling sharply to the ground.

Sai caught himself neatly, hand lashing out to grab another, thinner branch. He swung gracefully through the air and landed in a roll on the ground, sending up a spray of dead leaves. Yamato and Shino dropped down beside him, Yamato kneeling to help Sai back to his feet. Shino edged around in place; his arms braced and at the ready.

"We aren't alone," he said, quiet and to the point as always.

The men barely had time to dodge, each shooting back as a foul-smelling blur dove for the spot they had been standing in. Sai let loose a flurry of kunai, a wall of glinting steel that somehow did nothing to stop the oncoming attack.

Yamato slammed his hands together, erecting a wooden cage around the assailant. It broke through without much effort, but it gave Sai enough time to get out of the way, now clutching the bark of a massive oak, 15 feet up in the air.

The figure fell still, waving back and forth in place. Each man took the moment to hold their breath, taking stock of what hovered before them.

It was little more than a gaunt mummy, cheeks sunken and eyes wholly black. Its topknot was lank and greasy, full of the same rank linseed oil that was waxed into its hardened pores. The skin was a dark, brownish-gray, covered in wounds that looked much like bedsores. The cloak it wore was wet with blood and urine, enveloping it with an ungodly stench. A long, katana hung limply in its half-decayed fingers, swaying in time with the puppet.

"Do you see chakra threads?" Yamato called out, eyes scanning the tree line around them in search of the puppeteer.

"No," Shino responded, as beetles swarmed on his sleeves and rose into the air. "The beetles would have eaten them by now."

Sai's eyes narrowed as he looked the puppet up and down.

"They  _are_ the Blood, after all," he said plainly, whipping a kunai deftly back and forth in his fingers.

"So, the plan is to bleed it dry?" Yamato asked, although it wasn't really a question.

"Seems like the wisest course of action," Shino said, just as the puppet began to move.

It rushed inhumanly fast, darting at Shino with an arcing swing of its sword. Shino shot backward again, levying up a wall of beetles to hold the puppet back. It cut through the wall like nothing, slamming through the bugs not moments later.

Sai took off down the side of the tree, speeding to the ground at full tilt. His kunai was at the ready, and he dove for the puppet's head. Sai slammed the sharp edge into the gap between shoulder blade and clavicle, ripping a deep tear into the flesh. It was thicker, tougher than human skin, shredding apart like a thick sheet of aluminum. Heavy, viscous sludge leaked out, slow and darker than live blood. The smell of decay and linseed oil became more obnoxious, burning all of their eyes and making their noses run. It bled slowly, far too slowly to have suffered any real damage yet.

Sai leapt away, just barely avoiding the backhanded swing of the puppet's fist. As it was, the keen steel edge of the sword glanced at the side of his head, shearing off a fine chunk of his hair.

Yamato plunged his hands deep into the ground, grunting as his chakra sank in the dark earth and grew out of the grass. It felt like his own body twirled around the puppet in braided vines. Thorns grew from beneath his fingernails and punctured it all over, chakra-laden blood seeping along his skin. It burned like acid, hardening along his limbs and filling him with a deep dread.

Yamato broke away from the wood that sprawled from his arms, ripping his hands out of the grass. He coughed harshly, trying to hack out the thick taste of anger that caked the inside of his throat. Yamato dropped flat to the ground as the puppet started to break its way out of the vines that held in place, little splinters of wood going flying through the air.

Shino flitted into space in front of it, squatted on a fat, gnarled trunk of a branch with one hand bracing himself between his feet. He leaned in close, almost nose to nose, one hand reaching into its foul gullet and grasping its lower jaw.

"Disgusting."

Shino ripped downwards, separating the puppet's chin from its face with a downright disrespectful jerk. The puppet's sludgy blood poured out from the hole in its throat, causing it to keel over, now struggling weakly. A shower of beetles cascaded down upon it, eating away at its treated flesh and exposing the flesh inside.

Its innards made clear how quickly it had been made. The rush job had left the inside muscles to rot in their own fluid, left the organs open to house a thick mass of black flies. Shino's beetles only had to pull away the skin and release the flow of black mucus that passed for blood, and the maggots and coffin worms would do the rest. The skeleton and wet meat leaked through the tangle of vines, pooling in the grass.

"The others can't be far ahead."

Saya blinked away the few tears that managed to force their way to the corners of her eyes, bringing her left hand, the one she had been using to control Akio's corpse, to her mouth and kissing it gently.

She had said her farewells before, when she had left him behind in that last-ditch effort to buy time, but now…it felt so much more final. Mourning filled her gut, pulling a wave of bile into her throat. Saya swallowed thickly and took in deep breaths through her nose.

Between her knees, Manami began to struggle.

Saya sighed and began flicking her left hand in time with her right, taking full and focused control of Manami's sightless and directionless body.

Saya had caught her before her vision had returned, doing something she never thought she would be brought to do. Smearing her blood across Manami's forehead, going against the most sacred rules that Saya held in her heart, using what the Blood had given her against another of her family. But that was what was demanded, the only choice she had left. It was all falling apart. The Blood was truly dying.

Saya now forced Manami to carry her on her back, shooting quickly through the trees under a blanket of Manami's genjutsu vapors and heading in a dead run for the Ketsu Isles.

* * *

Several hard days' journey to the west, deep in the bright and welcoming lights of a Konoha morning, Sakura was standing out in front of the hospital doors, having just left her shift. She had just given Hinata another all-clear for the week, assuring the struggling mother that she was safe for at least the few coming days. Sakura pitied her; it had been a hard two and a half weeks since she had been put on constant watch, and it was clearly taking its toll. So, Sakura did what she could to comfort Hinata, taking every extra precaution she could possible think of.

But now, she was standing outside, both of her hands in Kakashi's and smiling, reaching up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the soft fabric shadow of his lips. She was done with her long shift, she was starving, and she was with  _him_.

"Hey there, lazy."

"Just because  _you_ like to work the night shift doesn't mean  _I'm_ lazy," Kakashi scoffed.

"I don't  _like_  to work the night shift. What I  _like_ is breakfast for dinner," Sakura said, taking Kakashi's hand and tugging him along playfully. "We can even go to that place with fluffy pancakes," she said, voice lilting in sing-song as she tried to convince him.

It didn't take much, all she had to do was smile that knee-breaking smile and he would kill for her. Kakashi smiled to himself behind the mask and allowed her to pull him forward.

Sakura let go to reach her arms above her head and stretch, cracking those lower vertebrae that were still so stiff sometimes ( _It's Sasori's fault, she had whined, when Kakashi had pushed hard at the knotted muscles of her back)_ and looking up at the sky, taking in the bright morning sun and the birds flying overhead.

"You know," Sakura said, trailing off. She stopped in place; head still tilted up at the sky. Kakashi stopped immediately, concerned.

He tilted her chin back down and looked in her eyes, which were beginning to water, the blood vessels becoming bright red and pressure building in her eyeballs.

Sakura then began to scream.

To scream and to scream, loud piercing notes that drilled into Kakashi's guts deeper than any weapon.

The vessels in her eyes burst, blood shooting down her cheeks like tears. Around them, passersby dropped to the ground and covered their heads in panic, the glass front doors of the hospital beginning to crack dangerously.

Kakashi was hit with a blast of chakra from Sakura's body, slamming into his chest with the force of an angry bull. Her skin began to sizzle and Kakashi's senses flooded with the smell of frying bacon and burnt hair as a bright red seal burned its way down the center of her forehead and flushed her whole body with heat.

Sakura went rigid and began to topple over on the concrete pathway, barely giving Kakashi the time to catch her. He could feel the heat of her skin even through the leather palms of his gloves.

Nurses poured out from the hospital doors, the glass panes collapsing into snow on the ground as they were forced open to allow the gurney through. Kakashi forced away the reaching arms of the nurses as they tried to lift Sakura's stiff body, growling when they tried to take her from his arms. He took it upon himself to lift her onto the gurney, refusing to let go of his death grip on her hand as they rushed back inside.


	26. The Breaking Point

The noise was deafening, so loud that even inside, Tsunade and Hinata heard it. Both recognized it. The ungodly howling of Sakura's screams. The crashing of glass. The women were both standing by the pharmacy when Sakura was rushed in, crowded by nurses. They rushed over, Tsunade breaking through the mass of people and making space for them to move through. They saw Kakashi first, leaning deeply over Sakura's stiff, twitching body, clutching at her hand as if he feared she might up and disappear.

Her screaming, at least, had stopped, but the burn of Sakura's Bloodied Reserve Seal still sizzled dreadfully in her skin.

Her body began to jerk, limb-wracking spasms that forced Sakura upright on the gurney.

"Hello? Hello?!" she cried out, whipping her head about wildly. Sakura's eyes were blinded, filled with blood that oozed thickly through her bottom eyelashes, making them stick together in unsettling, spidery clumps. Her grip on Kakashi's hand tightened until her knuckles were white, his fingers making dangerous cracking noises in her clenching palm. The pain showed on his face, but he made no move to pull his hand away. If she was clutching him, no matter how painfully, it meant that she was alive.

Tsunade and Hinata approached on the other side, the older woman pressing her palm firmly into Sakura's bleeding eyes.

Sakura screeched loudly in surprise, both arms lashing out around her instinctually in self-defense. She yanked her hand violently from Kakashi's, her left arm slamming into Tsunade's chest so hard she actually fell back half a step. Sakura's arms flailed, one clawed hand managed to snag against the side of Kakashi's face, ripping his mask until he had to hold it in place as his cheek began to run with blood. She screeched again, trying to pull away from Tsunade's healing hands, panic building manically in her chest. Another wall of chakra pulsed from within her body, hitting everyone that stood around her. Most of the nurses were forced back, unable to withstand the slamming waves of energy that shoved at their ribs.

Hinata stumbled backward on unsteady feet, bracing her stomach. An expression of discomfort flitted across her face, temporarily losing itself in her concern before it returned to hang there, painted in the lines of her skin. Hinata's brows drew together, her jaw tightening as she struggled to stay on her own two feet.

Only two feet away, so close, too close, Sakura screamed again. Rage twisted itself across her lips and scarred her features, wave after wave of hot chakra crashing through the air around her. It hit Hinata again, forcing her back until her back hit cool concrete. She lost the strength in her legs and ever so slowly slid down the wall, hair snagging in the stony surface as she went to the ground, still so dangerously close to the violent fountain of energy.

"Mrs. Uzumaki?" a nurse asked, catching the movement out of the corner of her eye and diving to Hinata's side.

The Hokage's head turned, long blonde tendrils of hair whipping fitfully around her head, nostrils flaring. Her heart was pounding, fear and adrenaline shooting through her painfully.

Disaster in her hands and disaster at her feet.

Sakura's blood staining the gurney sheets…and Hinata's staining the floor, staining the lap of her delicately lilac skirts.

Sakura screamed again, that arcing screech of pure pain and avarice, and Tsunade screwed her eyes shut, gritting her teeth so hard she was sure she heard a molar crack. Nurses were beginning to crowd Hinata, attempting to move her to her own gurney but undoubtedly doing more harm than good.

Too much noise – she couldn't think.

Tsunade open her eyes, staring into Sakura's face as her mouth opened again to loose another cannonball of a scream.

"Just this once, Sakura, I'm going to have to ask that you keep it to yourself."

Tsunade's fingers pressed firmly into Sakura's burning seal. She could feel the heat peeling away at the flesh of her fingerprints.

Tsunade's chakra hit Sakura's like a shock of cold water, soothing hot lava into ropy stone and cascading along Sakura's body until it reached the wispy edges of her nervous system.

Again, the Hokage tripped the failsafe now built into Sakura's body. The bright glowing ribbons of the Creation Rebirth unfolded along her cheeks, lacing themselves down her limbs. Sakura fell limply on her back, hair splaying wildly against the spattered gurney.

Tsunade backed away, wiping her blood-slicked hands off on her robe, garish dark smears against the emerald fabric. Guilt sat on her shoulders like an ill-tempered child, kicking cruelly at her back even as she stooped to lift Hinata's limp bodily with no more difficulty than a child's doll.

Tsunade didn't know what had just happened to Sakura, but it wouldn't be far-fetched to believe that the alignment had been a failure, no more than a temporary balm to a chronic injury. And now, that failure had, by extension, hurt Hinata.

Cradled in her arms as she was, Tsunade could feel Hinata's body straining and flexing, the muscles of her stomach tightening like a badly-made drum, threatening to snap at any second.

The pummeling waves of chakra had knocked Hinata's systems awry, done something destructive to the delicate balance of Hinata's body, had started a heavy, wet flow of blood that bloomed between her thighs in a bouquet of funeral roses.

* * *

The sun had already fallen by the time Sakura finally clawed her way back into consciousness. When her eyes opened, everything was clouded with confusion. She didn't know where she was, didn't know why she couldn't move, didn't recognize the fabric that brushed her skin. Panic pricked at her every nerve, an uncomfortable heat still throbbing distressingly in her forehead.

Her every instinct screamed at her:  _get away go back the time is now you must go back you must get away now_

Sakura tensed her body, then jerked upright. The straps that had held her to the hospital bed ripped right out of the frame, her wrists flying into the air with their momentum. She tumbled over herself, the papery crinkling of the hospital gown almost as loud to her ears as the noise of her toppling to the ground, hospital bed crashing to the tiles alongside her.

Sakura was already perched on the windowsill, half into the evening air with one hand on the glass when the door behind her opened. She whipped to look at the intruder, eyes wide and nerves rising to the defensive.

Kakashi stood there dumbly, one hand on the door handle and one holding a familiar pink blanket. He stood there staring at Sakura with concern, watching as she hovered shakily in the windowsill, her eyes manically bright and her hair tangled around her face like a wild animal's. But it was the seal in the center of her forehead that kept him cemented in place, a glowing insignia that almost hypnotized him.

"Where are you going?" he asked, quietly.

Something in Kakashi's voice reached into Sakura's chest and thumbed at her heart, the first tiny sense of calmness and comfort she had felt. She leaned back inside, staring back at Kakashi with eyes that mirrored his uncertainty.

"I..I don't know. I just…I need to…," Sakura tried to say, unable to form a sentence. She again looked out the window, over the expanse of glittering electric lights and the towering Hokage Mountain, feeling the instinct to  _go back go now_ dragging at her stomach, urging her to run into the distance.

But Sakura didn't even know where it was that she wanted to go. All she could feel was the need to  _get there._

"It's okay, Sakura," Kakashi murmured softly, holding his arms out her.

Well, at the very least, Sakura knew that wherever she wanted to go, she wanted to go with him.

Sakura slid from the edge of the window, toes hitting the cold floor with a soft thump. She immediately walked into Kakashi's outstretched arms, all of the discord in her heart settling under the warmth of her blanket and his embrace.

"Can we go home?" Sakura asked, her voice small and pathetic as she pressed her cheek to Kakashi's chest. If she left the hospital and was able to walk in that crisp, cool night air, maybe that all-consuming impulse to run off into the woods would go away, the noxious fog of salt and blood that still swam inside of her skull might finally dissipate. She was already pulling away from Kakashi, blanket trailing behind her on the floor, and walking out of the doorway when he answered.

"I'm not sure if that's the best idea," Kakashi said, quietly, as if he was worried about how Sakura would react. Which, honestly, was probably a good concern to hold, he thought, as she turned back around with eyes full of distress.

"Why?" Sakura asked, voice shooting up an octave, fingers tightening visibly on the edge of the blanket.

"Do you not remember what happened?"

Sakura bit tightly at her lip, tasting blood as her teeth scissored into the delicate flesh. She tried to think back, tried to remember what had happened just this morning, but the memory seemed to live far, far away.

Sakura remembered walking out of the hospital, remembered thinking about breakfast and holding Kakashi's hands, and then…just  _pain._

 _Shooting_ pain. Like her brain had exploded in a shower of fireworks, and all the gunpowder lights had poured straight from her eyeballs. Just explosion after explosion of chakra inside of her skull, massive surges of energy that she had tried to release blindly, screaming with pain as it slammed its way out of her body. Sakura could feel it even now, growing again as she sunk herself into it. But she  _didn't_ remember anything else.

Just the endless pain, seeming to stretch on forever, until she had woken up to see the glaring white of the moon, wrapped in a panic that screamed for her to  _go back go now you must end it now you must go-_

Sakura came back to herself all at once, a cry of anger dying in her throat when her vision swam back into focus, the wash of pain rinsing itself from her senses. She looked around her, surprised. Somewhere in the middle of all that  _pain,_ Sakura had dropped her blanket and scaled the wall, and even punched out the hall window. Shards of glass were embedded in her forearm, blood smearing its way across her skin.

Sakura clenched her fist tightly, watching, enrapt, as each piece of glass was forced out of her flesh, the wounds healing with a tiny hiss.

She looked back down behind her and saw Kakashi's gloved hand clutching at her hanging ankle. For the first time, Sakura really saw the fear and concern in his eyes, saw his swollen cheek and the red blooms in the bandage across it.

"What happened to your face?" Sakura asked, whispering.

Kakashi didn't say anything, he didn't have to. Sakura already knew the answer.

What she didn't know, not yet, was about the woman just a floor or two above, several hours into what would be a very difficult, very dangerous childbirth.

"What happened, Kakashi?" she asked again, both of them knowing that she was asking about more than just his face. The seal in her forehead began to glow brighter, the same haunting light beginning to burn in her eyes as she gripped tighter to the jagged windowsill, panic again building inside of her.

There was a feeling in the air, an unsettling in her veins. Something was very, very wrong, and she knew that it had something to do with her.

"What happened?" Sakura asked again, her voice cracking midsentence. Her eyes burned brightly as she stared at Kakashi. The silence pressed on them like a thick fog as they stood there, Sakura half-out the window and Kakashi standing below her, clasping his fingers around her ankle. Her eyes began to sting, whether with tears or more blood, she didn't know.

"Saku-"

Kakashi's words were cut off by a shrill scream from the floors above. A familiar, piercing screech that ripped through the silence like steel through flesh.

"What did I  _do?!_ " she said, forcing the words out through her tears. Again, she heard Hinata's screeches of pain from above, noises that Sakura just  _knew_ were her fault, as much as she knew the bloody bandage and dark-rimmed eye of Kakashi's face were her fault.

Sakura knew what she had done. Sakura knew it was something awful. Each scream she heard pierced her heart. Each one painted a graphic, grisly image in her mind's eye: Hinata's pale, lifeless eyes, a cold and bloodless stillborn, a dark and drawn Naruto who would never be able to unshoulder the blame. Blame that only belonged with Sakura. It was  _her_ fault, wasn't it, she thought, as another scream ran its way down the hallway.

Sakura couldn't take it, couldn't hear another one of them. Couldn't sit through what sounded like the dying scream of one of her best friends, the death of an innocent child…

Sakura launched herself through the window, ripping her foot out of Kakashi's grip. The glass snagged at her hospital gown, shredding the papery material into ribbons as she tumbled out into the night.

She was overwhelmed by that need to  _go_ , as she landed on a nearby roof and pivoted in place. Sakura's nostrils flared, eyes darting back and forth as she tried to follow the tugging of her gut. She ran, leaping across rooftops toward the east side of town. Sakura stopped again, perching on a high-up water tank. She shut her eyes, trying to block out the lights, the sounds, trying to drown herself only in that desperate instinctual need to  _go._

The need filled her, filled her with a cloud of salt and copper and a sense of rage. There was no rationale to it, no words she could ascribe to it. All Sakura really wanted to do was go home, to put on one of Kakashi's shirts and climb under her covers until the world stopped turning; at first, that's all she thought she was doing. But now, the rage pushed at her, determination settling itself in her chest. It felt almost foreign, like the will of someone else, but whose could it even be? It burned its way deep into Sakura's bones, ran thickly alongside the blood in Sakura's veins. Every time Sakura closed her aching eyes it took over her every sensation. There was no separating it from Sakura herself.

She took a deep breath, one last desperate attempt to center herself and find some self-control before she lost herself in the haze and shut her eyes.

It was then that something, or someone, slammed into her at full force. Sakura felt the impact when they hit the roof below, even as the person who took her down cradled her body protectively.

"What the hell?" Sakura managed to say, the breath knocked fully from her lungs.

"That should be my question," the person holding her asked, his voice gruff.

Sakura pushed herself up, her nails scratching audibly against Kakashi's vest.

"Excuse me?" she asked, still trying to pull breath back into her chest.

"You're the one who went running off!"

"I…" Sakura tried to say, stumbling over her words. "I just need to go-" she sort of finished, still not sure of what is was she meant.

"Where exactly are you going to go, dressed like this?" Kakashi asked sarcastically, helping Sakura to her feet and gesturing at her shredded, wispy hospital gown. Sakura furrowed her brow and blushed, holding her arm against her stomach.

Kakashi took her hand and pulled her lightly in the other direction, back west towards her apartment building.

"At least get dressed before you try running off," he said, pulling her along with him. Sakura followed, biting her lip and looking back to the east, to the forests that stretched on beyond her, to the call of the salt and finality that screamed for her.

* * *

They spilled in through Sakura's bedroom window, Sakura immediately pulling off the remains of her hospital gown and going straight for her closet. She clawed through the neatly stacked piles of clothing, yanking on the darkest items she could find.

Kakashi gulped thickly when she came back out of her closet, fully dressed and flicking the ends of her hair out of the collar.

The girl was literally  _glowing_ , the brightness of the chakra inside of her still pulsing beneath her skin. Even after being stabilized by the Creation Rebirth, it still raged inside of her.

Sakura had pulled on a velvety, high-collared top with short sleeves that exposed her strong arms, and distractingly tight shorts that only made the cruelly inviting curve of her thighs more enticing, drawing him in with that warm glow. She was kicking on her knee-high boots, each making a heavy, satisfying thunking noise against the wooden panels of the floor. Kakashi watched, mesmerized, as Sakura glided around her room, filling up her traveling pouch with the supplies she always kept pre-prepared and securing it deftly to the hooks structured into her shorts.

She was already affixing her cloak around her neck and sliding the bedroom window back open when Kakashi took her hand tightly.

"What's going on, Sakura?" he asked gently, sliding his fingers through hers as he sat on the edge of the tidily made bed.

"I don't know," she admitted, worrying at her lip with her teeth. "I just, I need to  _go._ At the hospital…I just…I needed to get away from Hinata. I know what's happening to her is my fault, and I just, I needed to leave. But something else is  _wrong,_ Kakashi, something with this chakra. It's something about the Blood, I know it. I  _feel_ it," Sakura said, raising her free hand between them. In the dim, unlit room, her hand was glowing like a candle.

"Something is calling me, Kakashi. I have to go. This might be the only opportunity I have."

"Opportunity for  _what,_  Sakura?" Kakashi pressed.

"To end it," she said, the words tumbling from her lips faster than she could think them. Again, it was like someone else was filling in the gaps, driving Sakura's body from within.

"What does that even mean?"

"I'm hoping I'll figure it out at some point soon," Sakura said, yanking her hand out of Kakashi's. "I have to do this; I'm not going to let you stop me."

He stood up, grabbing her hand again before she could get too far away.

"I'm not going to stop you, Sakura," Kakashi said, fingers clasping hers, his other hand gracing her cheek. "But I also can't just let you run off, alone, in search of the Blood. We don't know what this is. It could be a trick; this feeling could just be a set up to bait you into their trap."

"I don't think it is," she said firmly, adjusting her cloak. The burning of her Seal heightened, reaffirming her choice.

"Then I'm coming with you."

Sakura's hand stilled on the doorknob, and she took a moment to stare at the back of her knuckles.

"I don't know if you should, Kakashi. I don't know what's on the other end of this. It's too dangerous. All I know is that it's something  _deeply_  wrong. If I stay here…I think it might just kill me before we can stop the Blood."

Sakura turned to look back at Kakashi, both of his eyes wide with alarm.

"I thought the Creation Rebirth…the alignment," he tried to say, completely lost. Kakashi barely understood what the Alignment had been, let alone what any of the millions of ways it could go wrong could even begin to be.

"It's not my body that's failing. I think…it must be the Blood Seal," Sakura said with grim finality, staring back down at her hand clenching so tightly on the doorknob. She shrugged, shaking out her hair and collecting her bearings before she pulled the door open.

Sakura had barely taken two steps out of her bedroom when she saw Tsunade, reclining on Sakura's couch and inspecting her cuticles. Sakura, shocked, stood up straight and bit down painfully on her tongue. Instantly, the hot rush of distrust and rage pooled in her veins, a stranger's whisper floating through her mind.

_Did he tell her where you were going?_

_You cannot let him stop you._

Sakura shook the thought loose and steeled herself.

"Milady."

"You look like you're in a hurry, Sakura," Tsunade said, rubbing a speck of dried blood from the shiny lacquer on her fingernails.

Sakura bounced on the balls of her feet, her agitation growing by the moment.

"Where exactly is it you think you're going?"

There were a few tense moments of silence as Sakura tried to form an answer, grasping at the instinct that pulled at her edges, trying to form the disarray into a coherent reason. She only grew more and more frustrated, unable to put it into words. Kakashi inched in behind her, his palm warm and comforting against the back of her shoulder.

Yes, the pain that had exploded through her brain and her eyes had been all-consuming, but it had brought something else along with it. The rush of chakra had been full of rage, full of destructive force; and for some reason, some cause that Sakura couldn't name, it drew out the deepest instinct to protect  _herself._ As if her body, and the blood inside of it, knew better what was needed than Sakura knew herself.

It wasn't something Sakura knew so concretely that she could tell Tsunade, no matter how much she knew she should, no matter how much she wanted to. But it was something that connected deep, deep in the heady thrums of her burning chakra. Something much older and much stronger than Sakura was herself.

The Blood Seal was weakened, broken by the concentrated force of pure hatred and energy. Years' worth of pent-up chakra was humming through the vein-like network of Blood Seals – the salty, bloody instinct that pulled Sakura to the Isles like a net, pulled Saya and Manami too, although she didn't know that as much as she  _sensed_ it.

And then there was the  _other_  thing.

The  _other_  whispers in her mind, the  _other_  forces pushing Sakura east.

If she even tried to probe at  _those_ whispers, her chakra would scream like static in her earsENDITENDITENDITENDITand she would lose control, and Sakura would almost surely end up crashing her way through another window.

"Since I can't help here," Sakura said carefully, pushing the words through gritted teeth, "I'm going to go help the Reconnaissance Team."

"How do you know they need help?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I just do," Sakura answered, eyes bright with purpose.

Tsunade stared at Sakura, hard. She could understand Sakura's pain. There was no way she had regained consciousness in that hospital without hearing Hinata's scream, and Tsunade knew Sakura was clever enough to connect the dots for herself.

Tsunade guessed that she could sympathize.

If she had possibly hurt Hinata, Tsunade would probably get as far away from Uzumaki Naruto as she possibly could too. And that didn't even take the baby into account; right now, the lives of both mother and child hung from a very delicate thread.

And, in what Tsunade could guess wasn't a coincidence, her scouting team was indeed in need of assistance. They had sent word this morning, a message that had arrived not long after the chaos in the hospital lobby. Yamato believed those women from the Blood were retreating, going back to their base for one last stand.

Yamato didn't know where that base was – all he could do was have his squad trail behind the Blood Sisters as best they could manage with Shino's beetles.

But judging by Sakura's stance, her furtive glances out of the window and full-body lean to the east, she was very much aware of where to go.

"It's not the worst, as ideas go," Tsunade said, sighing. "It's likely better than waiting here," she finished, shrugging her arms to the cold, dark room at large. Sakura flinched at the intonation. Tsunade was right – anything would be better than just sitting in her apartment and waiting to hear the news of Hinata's untimely death.

"Yes, milady," Sakura said in agreement, already inching for the balcony's glass door.

"And Kakashi is going with you, correct?"

Sakura stopped, about to answer, when Kakashi cut her off to answer for himself.

"Yes."

"No, he's not-" Sakura tried to say, turning to him with something between distress and surprise. Kakashi shot her with a very no-nonsense look.

"I'm not going to let you run headfirst into a deathmatch alone, Sakura."

"But-"

"It's non-negotiable," Kakashi said quietly, looking her in the eyes. "I won't let you go alone."

 _I won't lose you,_  his eyes said.

Sakura's face flushed and she nuzzled deeper into her cloak, leaning into Kakashi's hand.

"Fine."

Kakashi and Sakura broke eye contact, both of their heads snapping to look in Tsunade's direction.

Tsunade sighed heavily as she stood up, readjusting her robe tightly around her body in a vain attempt to find comfort.

"I can tell when things have reached their peak. This war over hate, or revenge, or whatever it is, it needs to come to an end. Those women killed children today. Those  _people_  have killed hundreds over the decades," Tsunade said, walking over to look out of the wall of windows, eyes dancing over the sea of lights she lived to protect. She glanced back for a moment, looking at Sakura, the girl she had taken under her wing, cared for, raised like a daughter in so many ways.

In times of war, no hearts can be spared, can they?

"Do what you must, Sakura."

Tsunade spoke brusquely, then turned on her heel and went straight for the door without another word. Sakura moved slowly, silently to the balcony door, sliding the panel open and stepping onto the patio. She looked down over the railing, watching Tsunade walk back toward the hospital without looking back.

Sakura took a deep breath, leaning her head back to look up into the stars. The brisk night air flooded her lungs, and she let it overwhelm her.

The salt and copper called for her.

"This way," Sakura said, and then she was gone, her cape fluttering as she ran toward city limits.

As Sakura launched away, her boot caught the edge of the flower pot and sent it right over the edge. Kakashi managed to catch it, setting it back in place with a resigned sigh. He followed Sakura silently.

Nothing from here on out was going to be easy, he feared.

* * *

Sakura was shooting through the trees, moving so fast that even Kakashi was having serious trouble keeping up. They had been running east for hours upon hours, until the heavy night air in Konoha began giving way to the thin salty breezes of the islands. More than enough distance had been traveled to reasonably call for them to rest, to maybe make camp, but Sakura showed no sign of stopping.

Kakashi had to stop to catch his breath, crouching on a wide branch. He watched as Sakura kept running, only coming to a stop almost a hundred yards ahead when she finally realized he wasn't behind her anymore.

When she stopped, Sakura collapsed with her back against the tree trunk, sinking down until she sat, gasping deeply for breath.

Kakashi's Sharingan eye throbbed as it zeroed in on her, taking in the perspiration on her brow and the burning glow of the Bloodied Reserve Seal. At this point, the closer they got to the Ketsu Isles, the more violent its burn became, a sizzling slash that dripped far between her eyebrows. Even from this distance, he could smell the adrenaline that leaked out of her pores.

Kakashi wasn't familiar with the ins and outs of medical ninjutsu, but even he could recognize the instability. Her Seals were being overwhelmed, Blood Chakra traveling back and forth across the link and wracking her body with uncontrolled energy. The Reserve Seal, even Aligned as it was, couldn't hold its own against the fluctuating force of

Kakashi could smell doom itself on her.

He leapt across the branches to catch up to Sakura, collapsing beside her and pressing his palm against his aching and bloodshot eye.

"Holding it together?" Kakashi asked sarcastically,

"More or less," Sakura answered, digging around inside of her cloak. She pulled out a canteen from the recesses, cracking it open and gulping down the cold water greedily. The cool liquid washed over her insides, cooling the burning inside.

Sakura balanced the canteen on her knee and leaned her head back against the bark, panting heavily. Sweat was pouring down her face, hissing lightly into little puffs of acrid steam as it hit the burning seal.

"Are we close?" Kakashi asked, this time with actual concern in his voice. He leaned over to brush the hair back from Sakura's sweaty forehead, only half-shocked by the crackle of electricity that snapped between her Seal and his fingers.

"I think so," Sakura said, opening her eyes. When they looked into Kakashi's, they were tired and strangely empty. As she looked at him, tears began to fall, and Sakura had to hitch in her breath and lean into his chest before he saw her cry in earnest.

They were quickly approaching the coast, as the forests began to thin, and the air filled with salt. Sakura didn't know what was waiting on the other side of the water, but she knew it was bad. Every inch closer was another flare of fear rising in her chest.

"It feels like I'm getting closer and closer to some sort of disaster," Sakura said, mumbling into Kakashi's vest. If she was leaving a heavy stain of snot and tears, neither of them cared enough to mention it. "I don't even feel like I'm looking for the Blood, I feel like I'm getting closer and closer to some sort of cancer that needs to be excised."

Sakura didn't go into detail about how much it felt as though that cancer existed in her own bones. She didn't need to.

Kakashi held Sakura close, gently combing out the tangles in her hair as she cried into his vest.

He wanted to protect her, to save her from this. But unlike all those times before, there were no other people to fall back on, no Naruto or Sasuke to head the attack. Sakura was going to be a target, and she was the only one with a hope in hell of fighting back. Kakashi and Sakura didn't even know where the rest of the Reconnaissance Team was – they were going into this about as blindly as they possibly could.

Sakura's tears slowly dried out, until she was just hiccupping weakly into Kakashi's chest.

She scrubbed at her eyes, rubbing away the tear tracks on her cheeks before forcing herself back to her feet.

"Let's go."


	27. What Did You Expect?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to take a hiatus. I had some serious creative burnout. I lost my ENTIRE master outline – 55 pages of handwritten notes, Adderall fueled plot rampages, sketches, timelines, family trees, everything. I started my sophomore year of college. I turned 21. I got a new laptop, and when transferring the entirety of this manuscript, managed to lose all but the first 1700 words of this chapter. I had to reread this entire story – and going over your own writing is the WORST thing ever – to know where to begin when I started writing this, the chapter that had been planned as the PENULTIMATE chapter. Because of that, there's going to be a bit of restructuring in my plan, making these chapters shorter than I meant at first and extending things a bit. VERY annoying for me, and I'm sorry about the shift in my narrative structure!
> 
> I hope to GOD this chapter lives up to expectations, both yours and mine. I'm so sorry for the wait, and I'm so thankful for those of you who will come back to this after so much time. I love y'all for reading and supporting this story, for supporting me. It's given me an outlet, given me confidence, helped me out of a dark and isolated place. You really don't know what it means to me, just to have the 200 or so of you who care about this piece of work and the characters like I do. I cannot thank you enough, ever.
> 
> Okay, with all that out of the way, back to that GOOD SHIT!

 

Naruto didn't know which was worse, the never-ending noise of the NICU, or the stark silence at Hinata's bedside.

After enough trips back and forth from one unconscious body to the other, he would learn that nothing was as painful as the time that stretched between. Nothing would ever cut as deep as that unbearable time of  _not-knowing._

Those empty hallways that echoed with his footsteps, they were the darkest moments of his life.

Every step forward, he knew he was walking to a corpse. Every inch, walking away from another.

It had always been a matter of time – Naruto should have known that he would never have a family of his own. It was a curse born in his childhood, a curse that had grown alongside him until it could kill his wife and child, just as it had his mother and father.

In those cold, fragile seconds between one bedside and the other, all Naruto could imagine was their deaths. Being alone again, like all those years spent in a hot and tiny apartment…

And how much he must have deserved it.

Naruto stopped outside of Hinata's door, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes as he began to cry.

Threatened with so much loss, what else could he do? Who even could he blame?

Naruto had been told the circumstances, of course. Nobody was stupid enough to try and keep that from him.

In those first few hours, when Hinata had been behind closed doors and screaming with pain so pure that he was brought to his knees, Naruto had almost torn after Sakura out of sheer instinct. That boiling Nine-Tails chakra living in his belly had flared dangerously with his family's life threatened, and Tsunade had had to physically restrain him. The instinct to destroy what had destroyed his world was overwhelming.

But now, the screaming had stopped, replaced by the tripping beeps of monitor after monitor, both comforting and destroying him in these moonlit hours.

In this morbid silence, he couldn't find the heart to blame Sakura, not any longer.

Naruto couldn't even find the heart to open the door.

Couldn't reach in front of him, turn the goddamn handle, and hold his wife's hand.

All he could do was stand there and cry; loud, angry sobs that wound their way down through every hall and stairwell, into every room and heart.

Every soul in the hospital, every soul in the village, they all ached on that starless and dismal night – the very streets cloaked in heavy, hot despair.

If one listened hard enough, every fox in the woods was screaming.

* * *

 

It had been a little more than 24 hours - the sun had yet to rise - when Sakura and Kakashi ran into the rest of the Recon Team. Literally.

As driven by instinct over sense as she was, Sakura didn't pick up on the chakra signature closing in until it was too late, sending both her and Yamato freefalling into the empty air between branch and forest floor.

She heard Kakashi's yell of surprise, as well as Sai's patient, if mildly disrespectful, greetings as Yamato managed to pluck the both of them from freefall with a generous rearrangement of the lower trees.

"What are  _you_ doing all the way out here?" Yamato asked, incredulously, as Sakura struggled to yank back in the air that had been forced from her lungs.

"Same…as…you," she panted, fumbling to find footing on the branches beneath her.

Somehow, Yamato doubted that was the case. Maybe in spirit, Sakura  _was_ out here on official assignment. The savagely bright seal burning down the middle of her forehead, however, hinted at  _other_  motivations.

Yamato had to hope that was only ex-ROOT paranoia talking.

Sakura took a half step back, dropping from the branch and out of sight. She hooked her palms against the bark, swinging off of the branch and to the forest floor, where the other men had already flitted down to meet the falling shinobi. Sakura didn't even think about it for a second before stepping tight to Kakashi's side, one hand clutching tightly around his elbow as she fought against the boiling energy inside of her. She leaned on him like he was a crutch.

Yamato followed her down, eyes zeroing in on Sakura's white-knuckled fingers before his feet even reached the ground.

_Oh._

_No wonder._

Sakura was already speaking, words racing out of her teeth at a mile a minute, but Yamato wasn't paying attention. His eyes met Kakashi's, the question in them plain.

_So. She's the girl?_

_Maybe._

_Well, you were right about one thing, she's way too good for you._

_Don't remind me._

Kakashi broke his gaze from Yamato's when he was nudged gently in the ribs. His eyes floated down to look at Sakura dreamily, even in all this commotion.

 _It's really just so unfair,_  he thought to himself,  _that I got so lucky while everyone else has to fight for scraps._

"If we move quickly, we'll get to the Isles just before dawn."

Kakashi nodded. They were making excellent time – as one tends to do in cases such as these.

It was also extremely unfair that they weren't at home, wrapped up in the blankets together at this very moment, waiting for the dawn sunlight to trickle in through a window.

Kakashi just hoped they made it back.

"Ready?" Sakura asked, turning back to look at the group.

All nodded in agreement, muscles tensing. They could all sense it now, the urgency that bled from the nearby Isles like the fog. It even rolled off of Sakura's shoulders, as tactile as the very leaves around them.

"Alright then," Sakura went on, sighing loudly. She tightened the holster around her thigh, more out of habit than necessity, fingers pressing harshly into the metal buckles so as not to reveal the shaking of her hands.

"Let's go, boys."

Sakura shot straight up into the air, leaves rustling around her. The men from the Recon Team, having not seen an aligned Sakura in action, stared after her with gaping mouths. She had leapt at least 80 feet into the air at a 90 degree angle, shooting off into the trees without any backward glance. Kakashi couldn't help but to snort as he tore after her, the rest following behind.

He really couldn't have found someone more impressive than Sakura, not even if he had tried.

Now, Kakashi just had to try to keep up with her, and follow the trail of hot, acrid blood droplets that splashed onto the branches beneath her disappearing back.

* * *

The bitter smoke of burning chakra that bubbled out of the mouth of the cave and from the behind the rushing of the waterfall was an odd sight indeed. Odder still was the smell – a hot scent so unlike any other, scratching deep inside Sasuke's skull. It pried away flakes of bone and flicked them into his brain until he woke, choking on the heady stink of rotted blood and white-hot chakra.

Sasuke's eyes snapped open to see Manami crouching in front of him, her smile impossibly wide.

Manami's wildly red eyes danced on the edge of psychopathy, haloed by that filthy, stinking mat of unkempt hair. It wriggled around her as if trying to reach out for Sasuke, only making that thick stench coil around him all the more.

Sasuke gagged in her face, before puckering his lips to spit thickly onto her feet.

Manami let out a noise a noise – half screech, half howl – and slapped Sasuke full across the face.

The force of impact opened the weak scab on his forehead, letting a fresh, warm wash of blood work its way down Sasuke's face.

Manami grinned again, taking Sasuke's chin in her dirty fingers as she crawled into his lap.

"All your manners and all your airs, and where have they gotten you?" she laughed, twisting Sasuke's face this way and that to admire every delicious inch of damage done to his annoyingly perfect face.

"Bound to the Seal, a pathetic pig to be cut open for blood and chakra when needed."

Manami leaned in close, close enough to drag her tongue against Sasuke's face and lap up the blood that ran there. She ran her tongue over her lips, smearing the blood across her face like a child's garish attempt at applying lipstick. It took everything in Sasuke's gut not to flinch away in disgust as her breath bathed his face, almost bringing tears to his eyes.

He could smell the stench of raw flesh in her throat.

Sasuke tried not to choke as Manami drew her lips to his ear and began to speak.

"Keep that blank face all you want, Uchiha. After Ichiro kills that pretty little thing from the Leaf, oh yes Sasuke, because she's on her way right now," she teased, noticing the faint jerk of Sasuke's shoulders as she spoke, "After he pays her back in kind for the death of every one of our brothers and sisters, he's given me my freedom to do as I please with you."

Manami's hands gently cupped Sasuke's jaw, just tightly enough to stop him from pulling away as much as he clearly wanted to. Slowly, oh so achingly slowly, they wandered up to his cheeks until her thumbs pressed uncomfortably against his bottom lids. Her filthy and broken fingernails scratched uncomfortably close to his eyes, making them water underhand. It only made Manami's sickening smile grow larger. The Rinnegan sparked dangerously against her touch, making another laugh bubble from cracked lips.

"I know you killed Akio, Uchiha. I know it was your sword that puddled the caves with his organs."

One of Manami's hands slid down Sasuke's bare chest. It could almost have been mistaken for sensual, if not for the filthy trail of blood and grime that slicked about on his skin.

"And I could have lived my entire life without knowing how beautiful his heart was, Sasuke, but what fun would that have been? What fun, Sasuke?"

Her nails pressed threateningly into his flesh, tearing new holes in his already abused body. She cackled, pulling her hand away and back up to press into his eye as she laughed.

"Should I thank you instead, for killing our brother, and showing me what I had been missing?"

Manami's voice began to border on a shriek, every word another slam against his skull. Her thumbs pushed up, threatened to squeeze Sasuke's eyeballs out of his head. All of her hate and her anger flared deep within her chakra network, vitriol taking control of sense. The burning rage of it burned through Sasuke's eyes, through his body, through his bindings. A cry of pain finally warbled out his throat.

"MANAMI!"

Manami wrenched Sasuke forward as she turned toward the voice that had yelled for her. Sasuke swallowed the cry of pain in his throat as Manami tore him free of the already weak and fractured bonds of the Seal. It felt as though his entire back had been flayed clean. She looked down and threw him back against the stone with disgust.

Sasuke was far too tired to do anything but take it.

_Not for long._

With the binding seals broken, he needed only to bide his time before he could act.

That's what he hoped, anyway.

But then again, when had  _he,_ Uchiha Sasuke, ever sunk so low as to  _hope?_

"Come here at once. It does nothing for us if you kill him so early."

Ichiro's voice was low and grating, the annoyance very clear. He wasn't very fond of this mangled and disturbed remnant of the Manami he had recruited. This Manami was…unkempt.

Manami oozed her way over to Ichiro and Saya, leaning over them as they crouched over a pit in the cave floor.

Beneath them, a thick and stinking slurry of chakra, glass, and blood burned with invisible fire. Flashes of incandescent chakra flame snapped across their vision, but Saya did not lose her steely focus.

Heavy droplets of sweat beaded down the side of her face as she worked, doing as she was told. Saya had sunk her arms into the hot, disgusting mess up to elbow. Her sleeves had long singed burned away, now streaking her shoulders with soot; but her skin was unblistered by the heat. Deep under the surface, her fingers danced in their arcane dances, again pouring deep wells of chakra into something that was better left dead.

Ichiro stood up, pushing Manami down to the floor where she could no longer annoy him.

He walked to the wall of the cave; the same wall that had once been lined with rows upon rows of blood-filled urns. He picked up the very last one on the shelf, not deigning to look back at Sasuke anymore. The blood swirled beneath the dusty glass, till miraculously fluid and sparkling after who knew how many years stored underground.

Manami had been very right in her analogy – to Ichiro, Sasuke was now little more than livestock to be bled for its energy.

"I hope they've sent an army," Ichiro said, laughing darkly to himself. The noise crawled up the sides of the cave like spiders, horrifying and with far too many legs. He threw the jar into the roiling pit.

The jar exploded in the muck, air bursting inside as it heated and just barely missing Saya's eyes. A shard cut through her shoulder, but she paid it little mind.

The foul-smelling smoke grew thicker in the air, as if to take form beside the living. Red, glimmering chakra threaded into the air like a million autonomous nerve endings, and Ichiro smiled.

"They shall need one if they expect to win this war."

* * *

The air was blowing gently westward, into the five faces that stared darkly toward the Isle that rose from the still waters. The distant island was all broken cliffs and burnt-out houses, but the rushing waterfall still crashed down with striking beauty. The water forced its way out of the rock on the island's highest point, tumbling over the edge of the stone shelf with stolen moonlight. It all crashed into crystalline shards at the foot of the waterfall, throwing stars from the skies into the ocean.

It should have been beautiful. It almost was, even with the wreckage that coated the Ketsu Isle like scales – except for the stench that danced outward on the wind.

Sakura's nose wrinkled as she caught a whiff of the smell. She stood in the center, Sai and Shino on one side of her, Kakashi and Yamato to the other. They stood in silence on the rocky beach, not that it really mattered. Any hope of a stealthy approach had flown out the window when Sakura's skin had begun to glow, raging with the chakra that coursed through her unchecked.

Sakura could feel that  _otherness_ pressing on her ribs from the inside, fighting to get out. The same  _otherness_ that told her what was making that smell. The same  _otherness_ that knew exactly what it was they would face.

"Let's assume we'll have our hands full. I might not be able to stop to heal you. If you die, get up and worry about it later," she said, not looking away from the Isle.

"Are we going to bother with a plan of attack?" Shino asked. He half-turned his head to look at Yamato, not really expecting an answer. The moment they had met up with Sakura, all bright-skinned and tightly-wound like a paper bomb, things had become very clear. Follow her lead and don't break your neck.

Yamato was already looking at Sakura, not bothering to come up with an answer himself.

Sakura stared levelly at the Isle, face placid. The blankness of her features was haunting unto itself. When she spoke, the words were not her own. She barely understood what they meant until they had already left her lips.

"There is no use in planning around this battle. Blood will be spilled. Hope that it is not yours."

She took a half-step forward, almost lazily, not really aware of the movement. Sakura didn't even notice until she heard Kakashi clear his throat behind her and was surprised to look down to see her toes brushed by the foamy edge of the water as it broke along the beach.

Sakura turned her head over her shoulder to look at him and felt a pain in her heart to see the concern in his eyes. The mask did nothing to hide the tightness in his face. Every inch of her being wanted to comfort him, to run back home and never leave the safety of their bed again.

But even you know that's never been an option, don't you?

Sakura has never had a chance.

What would make you think she did?

From the moment her chakra-thick blood spilled onto that stone, Sakura has been part of this story. No amount of love or tenderness would have ever saved her, would it? No number of gentle kisses or passionate touches could have stopped this.

She was always going to come here.

She was always going to end it.

What can you do but watch?

Sakura turned back to the Isle, and her breath caught in her throat. Dawn was not far off, but far enough so that the morning mists rolled in on an inky blank sea. The moon's light bathed everything in its monochrome glow, making the landscape into a black and white photo that would sit in her brain forever. It was all so foreign, a place that had been dead and empty since before she had ever been born. And yet…it had that same familiar  _otherness._

Sakura took a step forward, and then another, and another. Her slow strides lengthened, and then she was running. Chakra boiled out of her skin as she tried to channel it to the soles of her feet, willing a dangerous amount of energy to cloak her like a second skin.

The men tore off behind her, all but invisible as they ran behind her, hidden in the shadows cast by her obnoxiously bright form as it ran across the bay. Sakura kept running along the water's surface as the rest of them leapt, falling on the Isle like crows.

Sai jumped last, landing easily on one of his painted beasts. The large bird made lazy circles overhead has he looked down, watching Sakura with a measured expression that betrayed none of his curiosity.

What could she be planning to do in a state like that? With all of that chakra boiling inside of her, bubbling up with so much force it literally poured out of her skin like a glittery sweat, Sakura was a walking bomb.

Or, more aptly, a running one.

Sai watched intently as Sakura made her move. She was only meters away from the foot of the waterfall when she finally jumped into the sky. Sakura was little more than a shivering ball of light as she soared through the air.

"SHANNARŌ!"

An earsplitting BOOM ripped through the bay. The power of the noise as it ricocheted back off of the beach was enough to shake the Isle with violent aftershocks. Sakura hit her target with enough force to catapult back into the air, hard enough to make Sai wince and rub his knees. The waterfall's stone shelf exploded into miniscule grit, little dots of stone that caught the light and blended in imperceptibly with the stars.

Sakura fell hard, landing on her shoulder and rolling over her back onto the balls of her feet. She turned to look back over the shattered cliff expectantly.

It did not take long until the source of that vile smell showed itself.

The noxious red smoke climbed over the edge with curious fingers. It's form shimmered in and out of solid being, seeping over the ground like a hellish blanket of fog.

Sai threw down one, two, three kunai, each hitting the ground and bouncing away harmlessly. They only ghosted through, making the smoke dance in wider, more unsettling swirls.

Sakura didn't move a muscle. She only stood still. Patient. Silent. Waiting.

Her gaze shifted slightly to the left when she heard it – the telltale crunch of gravel under human feet.

Another few seconds passed.

And then they were there, rising over the cliff's edge and through the red smoke as if they had always been there.

The grey cloaks were dark against the smoke, almost formless as their edges blurred together. The tallest in the middle, the shorter two on either side.

The smoke curled back into itself, pressing low to the ground as if to make way for the tallest figure as he stepped closer to Sakura, letting his hood pool around his shoulders.

Ichiro was tall, statuesque, and intimidating. The length of his hair tumbled glossily down his back, but it did nothing to cut the angry intensity in the tightly-drawn lines of his face. Even his eyes were burning; they burned with rage, with mourning, with purpose.

"I'm sure you think you're doing the right thing. Doing what every good shinobi does. Obeying your Kage and crushing the beetle beneath your boot."

Ichiro's mouth twisted up in a humorless smirk on one side as he lifted one hand to point tauntingly at Sakura's burning Bloodied Reserve Seal.

"We gave you a path to freedom,  _sister,"_ he said, saying the word with every bit of bitter sarcasm possible, trying to goad Sakura with the bastardized connection she had to the Blood. "And yet, there you stand. You truly think you're doing the right thing."

Sakura's eyes narrowed uncharacteristically at his mocking words. Her shoulders were squared, arms crossed with disdain. When she spoke, her voice was more measured and poised than Sakura had ever managed to sound.

"I am sure you once thought the same, brother."

Ichiro's lips fell into a tight, unamused line as he pressed them together. Irritation and something…else scratched at him. How dare this impudent tadpole of a girl address him like that, and with such confidence? Who was she to question him, question his intentions, as if she had any right?

Ichiro couldn't be rid of her soon enough.

He melted back into the smoke, words ringing out clearly through the air as his form was swallowed whole.

"Kill her. Kill them all."

The figure on the left darted forward as the others disappeared into the glimmering smoke. Sakura slid her right foot back, grounding her weight and preparing for impact.

Kakashi got there first.

Sakura's eyes zeroed in on the space just inches in front of her nose. Kakashi's fingers were white-knuckling a kunai, gripping onto it with everything he had as he blocked the sword that had been making a beeline for Sakura's mouth.

The steel edge of the katana was jammed between the kunai's body and the metal plate on the back of Kakashi's glove. Sakura watched with abject curiosity, as the sword's edge punctured through the leather, bringing forth a pregnant bead of blood. Her eyes followed it as it traveled down the length of the trembling katana, finally stopping when it reached the hilt.

Sakura's eyes flicked up, looking deep into the wild, hungry eyes of the Blood-nin.

With her hair so foul and face so dirty, Sakura almost couldn't recognize her. But when her cracked lips pulled back over those long and grotesquely shining canines, Sakura was sure of it. Manami's disturbing airs were not ones easily forgotten.

"You had the stomach to destroy our home and try to drown us all, but you need  _him_ to protect you?"

Manami spat the words into their faces, vitriolic and unhinged. Bloodlust swam in her eyes like a shark frenzy. She pushed forward, leaning into the sword's hilt. The blade shivered, and Sakura heard Kakashi make a small noise of annoyance as it cut just slightly deeper into the flesh of his hand.

Manami's voice was cold and grating. She looked back and forth between Kakashi and Sakura, the three of them frozen into a tense standoff. The katana quivered in place, making a high-pitched squeal against the body of the kunai.

"Pathetic. I should never have let your blood taint us."

Manami heaved her weight forward. The katana's edge screeched off of the kunai, plunging through the air into the where Sakura's face had just been, a fraction of a second before. Sakura herself launched backward, going head over heels to avoid the attack. Kakashi shipped away to just barely avoid losing a hand, dancing himself out of striking distance.

He didn't make it in time to block the next attack.

Manami's mountain carried her forward and down until the katana hit the ground, glancing off the stones with a ghastly shriek. She let out a cry of frustration, crouching on the ground for a split second before launching herself back into the air.

Sakura had barely righted herself when Manami's sword sliced into her personal space. Its deadly edge sheared off a lock of her pink hair and hosted, whisper-soft, against her neck. Sakura couldn't help but to shiver as it kissed her throat.

Sakura spun away, making the blade miss its mark. Balancing on her toes, Sakura dropped her weight to her ankles until she was at eye-level with Manami's hips. Before Manami could react, Sakura threw herself into Manami, wrapping her arms around Manami's waist and locking her fingers.

"HOW DARE YOU-" Manami screeched, the katana falling out of her hand as Sakura sent them both flying.

The women slammed down into the ground with a loud crash. Manami struggled inside of Sakura's crushing embrace, with very little success. Sakura rolled over, grounding her weight on her knees and ignoring the tiny pebbles that broke through her skin. Still holding Manami tight in her clenched arms, she heaved up, lifting Manami off of the ground. Then, with a horrific amount of force, slammed her back down on to her back. With her head pressed so tightly against Manami's abdomen, Sakura heard the air  _whoosh_  out of her lungs. There was a small cracking noise, and Sakura felt one of Manami's ribs break underneath her cheek.

Manami gasped desperately for breath to no avail. Sakura threw herself heavily to her right, releasing Manami from her grip when her side collided with the stones. Sakura pushed Manami's choking body off of her and over, letting Manami roll over the edge of the broken cliff and disappear into the dark.

Sakura laid on her back for half a second, panting heavily. She raised her hand to her neck, flinching at the sharp sting when she touched the fine cut with her filthy hands. It came away red and sticky. Sakura tried to scrub it away on her top, starting to choke on the thick smoke that clung to the ground. She tried to fight her way to her feet but was pressed down by its weight. Every glimmering wisp of it pushed down on her like a million prying fingers, filling her skull with the rank scent of old blood, rot, and burned chakra.

Sakura scrabbled feverishly at each red tendril, clawing them off of her as best as she could manage. The smoke was getting heavier, darker, pressing in on her until she thought she would suffocate. It took solid form, until it smothered her underneath a writhing mass of bodies.

Every sound, the screams, the crashing of the waves, all faded into the empty, deafening roar of silence until Sakura's only proof that she was even alive were the stones pressing into her shoulder blades.

* * *

When Hinata woke, it felt like her skull was splitting. Her lashes fluttered as her eyes opened, trying to focus on something,  _anything_. The steady  _beep beep beep_ that had woken her sped up as she roused, every ping tumbling over the next as Hinata whipped her head back and forth.

She looked down at her side to see Naruto, bent over in his chair and fast asleep. His head pressed against her thigh, and she could feel his every jerk and twitch as he drifted in fitful sleep. Hinata reached down to trace a finger lightly over his tensed brow, and his eyes flashed open immediately.

"Hinata? Hinata! You're awake, I didn't know if you would-" Naruto couldn't even finish his sentence. He doubled over on himself and began to cry. Hinata wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, aching for him and the suffering he was shrouded in. She cradled his head in her arms, pressing him to her stomach and stroking his hair gently to try and calm him down. Naruto shuddered, choking on his own spit and pressing harder into the softness of Hinata's belly.

Hinata's fingers stilled in Naruto's hair.

her stomach shouldn't feel like that.

Then both hands fell to his shoulders and began to shake, rattling Naruto hard enough that he bit his own tongue.

"Where is he? Where's my baby?"

Hinata's soft voice sounded so  _wrong_ like that. High-pitched and hysterical, cracking midsentence as her throbbing eyes bore through the concrete floor to search the newborn nursery downstairs. Her eyes were flitting back and forth so fast it made Naruto dizzy. She was searching so hard amongst all those little hummingbird hearts of chakra flame, but none of them was the one she had cradled in her womb for so, so long. Tears streamed out of her eyes and she started pushing Naruto, shoving him off of her and forcing herself to her feet.

"He's not downstairs, he's up in the NICU, on the other side of the hospi- hey!"

Hinata had pushed him aside, dropping her weight to the cold marble tiles. The second she was upright, her still-very sore and abused organs began to protest. Something disgustingly liquid in her stomach shifted down with the gravity, sending shooting pains up through Hinata's hips and making her buckle to the floor. Naruto caught her just before her head could slam into the tiles, holding her cheek in his hand. She wouldn't stop struggling in his arms, she just kept screaming.

"Where is he? Please, tell me he's alive, please please, I need to see him, where is he?!"

 


	28. Under the Cherry Blossoms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My posting schedule now might be less consistent, and my chapters not so long, but I'm terrible at sitting on things for the proper length of time and had to toss this out at you.
> 
> I recommend some depressing music, and to read "Under the Cherry Blossoms" by Motojirō Kaiji before getting started with this – it's a poem I've used to guide quite a bit of this story, and some of you might have even caught it the first time I referenced it. It isn't, like, required reading but I think it'll give you some good insight!

 

It was cramped, with so many overgrown bodies crammed in around something so small, so immaterial, as if flitting to and fro over the edge of existence.

Hinata had to try very, very hard to choke down the sobs that wanted to rip themselves free of her grip.

She was in a wheelchair now. A squeaky, uncomfortable one she couldn't maneuver very well, and Hinata's only option was to let Naruto wheel her, inch by torturous inch, into the NICU.

And now they sat there, in that heavy silence, staring at their son.

He was a tiny, translucent little thing. His shivering blonde hair existed there, behind a thin barrier of plastic that might as well have been the Village Gates, as unbridgeable as it seemed. Hinata's fingers tapped numbly on the plastic of the incubation unit as she rose her hand to rest on it, in the spot where the baby's breathing tubes bumped against the surface. The filtered air inside made the air dance like a veil in a breeze, separating Naruto and Hinata from the only light that existed in their worlds anymore.

Hinata couldn't stop the hot tears that scalded her cheeks as she watched him, her little bundle of warmth, nuzzle into those sterile blankets. So close, just inches behind that plastic barrier, but it was a distance she couldn't cross. All Hinata wanted to do, all her soul desired, was to reach in and stroke a finger across those two tiny whisker-marks across his little cheeks, to let him know he wasn't  _alone_ in that blindingly bright little box and –

Hinata's hand dropped back to her lap and she hung her head. Long black hair fell around her face like a curtain, hiding her shame while she cried.

Naruto reached over the back of the wheelchair to squeeze her shoulder reassuringly, but it meant little to either of them. It was an empty, uncomforting gesture. They were both just so bone-achingly  _empty_.

"Are you going to name him?"

Naruto jumped, jerking his head around to stare at Tsunade with bright eyes. Compared to the two barely-parents, she looked criminally well-rested.

"I mean, we…aren't sure if he's going to…and Hyuuga family tradition…," Naruto mumbled, swallowing half of his words before they could make their way out. Sad, but not unexpected from a clan so devoted to preserving strength and dignity; leaving children who would never survive infancy without a name meant that they would never mar the Hyuuga's history of unmitigated power.

Tsunade came to stand beside Naruto, all three adults watching the infant take tiny, miraculous breaths. Right now, it was anyone's guess how many more he'd manage. She laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder, squeezing gently as if she could touch him and take all of his pain. She wished,  _oh_   _god_  how she wished that was possible.

Tsunade didn't have to read the baby's chart to know the issues. The infant's chest was so small it was almost concave; his skin glowed with a sickly yellow pallor. Born so early, his organs, especially his lungs, were underdeveloped. All the stress of being born and shunted from maternity to the NICU had put more undue strain on the rest of his system, and now the poor thing's unmatured liver wasn't able to process the bilirubin in his blood, staining his skin an unsettling shade of canary yellow. He couldn't breathe on his own, couldn't pump and filter his own blood. He was too weak to even open his eyes – Hinata still didn't know if they were pale like hers, or if blue like Naruto's.

 _If he would only open his eyes,_ she thought to herself,  _I know they would sparkle like the ocean._

"Giving him a name gives him a reason to live. I've been in hospitals long enough to know that," Tsunade said, fighting back tears. What good would it do to cry, here, where there was enough suffering to fill a thousand libraries with its tragedy?

None.

Right here, right now, her purpose was to keep everything from falling apart.

Hinata sniffled, drawing both blondes' attention. She lifted one pale hand to the hard-plastic barrier, and both Naruto and Hinata pretended they didn't see the shiny wet tears smeared across the back. Instead, they all stared silently at the baby, holding their own breath and waiting for him to take what could be his last.

"I wish Sakura-chan was here," Hinata whispered.

The words floated from her lips like a prayer.

A prayer to the only God she could trust to save her son.

* * *

There was no sound. There was no time. There was no space to breathe.

Everything that moved seemed to leave behind a motion blur, streaking in and out of focus as Kakashi's vision tunneled in on the place where Sakura had disappeared under a rambling, writhing mass of corpse puppets like a light extinguished.

It had all happened so fast; Sakura had slammed into Manami, smashed her into the stones so hard the older woman had projectile vomited an arc of blood before disappearing over the cliff's edge. Sakura had stopped – to rest? To breathe? – and then she was gone, under a solidifying pile of bodies with no end in sight.

Kakashi was frozen where he stood.

He watched, still as a marble slab, as Sai's kunai whizzed down from above and slammed into the crawling puppets. They were solid now, taking the blades between their shoulder blades and tumbling to the bottom of the pile in a trail of blood. Yamato rushed past, pounding on the puppets with massive fists of wood, hammering away at the mass in search of…whatever may have remained of Sakura.

Kakashi didn't flinch when Shino appeared suddenly on his right, or Sai on his right. Shino's head was bent forward slightly in concentration, using his beetles to crawl into the mass and scavenge among the miasma of Blood chakra for Sakura's before the thickness of it smothered their consciousness into nothing.

"There's another one of them. Controlling the puppets," he said through clenched teeth. He turned his head toward Kakashi, as if suggesting he take point on finding the puppeteer, but the Copy Nin did not move. He did not breathe. He only tensed in on himself like a spring, threatening to snap into a thousand shards of metal at any moment.

Shino said nothing, but on Kakashi's other side, Sai shrugged, as if this was to be expected. Which, it was, in some ways, wasn't it?

Sai disappeared again to search for the puppeteer himself, invisible in the twilight but save for the tell-tale whistle of a large  _something_ flying overhead.

All in all, less than a minute had passed.

Forty-six grueling seconds, each one counted on an invisible clock in Kakashi's brain as they ticked past.

Forty-seven.

_She's going to get up._

Forty-eight.

_She is going to get up._

Forty-nine.

_She has to get up._

Fifty.

_Please._

And then, the action slowed even more. Every movement slowed to a crawl, every sound dwindling into silence. There was only the cold, stretching emptiness of Sakura's absence before him. And didn't that just make  _so_  much sense? Of  _course_ , without her there, it would feel like reality was melting into slurry at its center –

And then the melted slurry of reality detonated.

It was a noise so loud, so deafening and explosive, that the world dissolved into a staticky white ringing in his ears that even Kakashi couldn't ignore. A blinding arc of solid red light exploded across his vision, sucking in the very edges of existence around it, bending space like a paper crane as puppet bodies flew through the air.

Then they  _all_  heard it.

Every soul on the Isle.

Not with their ears, but with their bones.

The words slithered between their vertebrae, curdling their spinal fluid with every syllable and filling their mouths with acidic bile.

_IT WILL END TODAY, BROTHER._

* * *

Sakura was struck first by the absence of sound. The raspy breathing of the puppets crushing her, the scream that had sounded so much like Kakashi…just gone.

The void around her was so, so cold.

At least this time she still had a body.

Sakura took a deep breath, refusing to cough as the chill traveled all the way down to her lungs. Then, with a heavy exhale, her breath bloomed through the void and brought warmth and light to the darkness.

The hazy darkness separated before her until Sakura could see a faint glow, and she began to move toward it, until the fuzzy glow sharpened into discrete form and suddenly there she was, standing directly behind a curtain of icy-white hair, so close she could smell the dried sea water and salt in it.

"You were always meant to end it, sweet girl."

Ketsu Chi's fingers twitched, the exposed tendons in her wrist flexing and popping like the cords of a played piano. Veins still slithered out of her flayed skin, floating in the air and leaking oily black blood, cups and cups of it, more than could ever come from a single woman's body, blood that danced around their heads like millions of glittering onyx beads. Like rain stopped in its macabre descent, Chi and Sakura waiting underneath for it to fall upon their shoulders like a heavenly blessing.

She felt strangely at peace.

As if this dark, doorless, windowless stone room was a world away from the living, and she couldn't be touched.

"I don't know what that means."

Sakura's voice boomed around the walls, finding no corners to hide in. She found herself marveling at how Chi spoke, her words so soft and so poised that they hardly seemed to be spoken at all.

"You gave more than the others. You gave a purity I had not seen…in so long. Your sacrifice gave something I had lost so long ago."

From behind Chi, Sakura watched as her head fell, weighed down by some invisible sadness. But even as Chi hung her head behind her thick veil of hair, Sakura had to gasp in awe.

Some of the blood above them, yes, because it even danced around Sakura now, began to glitter with a warm, familiar green hum. The way it sparkled made Sakura laugh, and her laugh sounded so strange in that blood-soaked room that she had to stop.

"I died having forgotten the goodness of the world, the life that still flowers beneath the pavement of war. Having forgotten that Blood is more than death; it is life. It is a heartbeat."

Chi's head snapped up, her hair bristling. She rose to her feet, and as her weight pressed into the stone slab underfoot it began to crack. The dark blood dancing around their heads fell to the ground, splattering against their feet and legs.

Chi turned, and Sakura was frozen in place as she approached. Those glowing red eyes drowned out everything around Sakura, wiping her mind clean from any thoughts. The blood that still floated around, dazzling in its jade luminescence, cradled her skull with warm fingers. Sakura couldn't move as Chi drew close enough for Sakura to feel her coldness, a chill that sucked in the heat with hungry breaths.

"We lived too long without a heartbeat."

Chi's hand cupped Sakura's jaw, and her brain burst into flame. Foreign memories and emotions careened past her mind's eye: a raging fire, a rainfall of blood, a gaping chest wound, hatred, revenge, and the mourning the sadness  _oh god the mourning the soft white braid and the endless years of mourning that just kept coming and coming would it ever stop please let me die-_

"I served my purpose. Now you must serve yours. You must put us to rest."

Sakura came back to herself and lurched backward, yanking her face away from Chi's grip, that deathly frigid touch.

"Destroy the seals, sweet girl. One by one, until you end it."

"Won't they just get stronger? With each one that dies?" Sakura was ashamed at the panic screaming through her voice.

Chi's arm fell, the loose veins of her wrist disappearing once again inside of her massive sleeves. She lifted the other to press two fingers lightly into the center of Sakura's forehead. Sakura tried not to scream as Chi's coldness punctured her skull and shattered her consciousness.

"And so too shall we."

* * *

_There lie cadavers under the cherry blossoms!_

_This is a truth you must accept. For how else could the flowers of the cherry tree be so magnificent in their bloom?_

The blinding flash of light finally faded from his retinas, but still, Kakashi could not move, though he was now frozen out of something other than worry or sadness.

What held him in place now was only pure terror.

Blood fluttered down from the sky like thousands of wind-blown cherry blossom petals, sparkling pink in the ever-encroaching dawn.

Sakura was a horrifying sight to behold.

_But now, at last, the truth has finally sunk in. There lie cadavers buried under the cherry blossoms. You must accept this._

Her shirt was torn, just barely managing to cover her sweat-stained chest bandages. Her kunai holster and medic pouch were ripped completely away, lost somewhere in the brawling muck. A huge ugly bruise stretched from Sakura's left knee all the way up to her hip, disappearing under the hem of her shorts but still deepening with every moment that passed.

Yet it was her skin itself that terrified him.

She was glowing a burning red, redder than the sunrise sky, with eyes so dark they became the void. Her hair twirled in a nonexistent wind, whipping furiously about her head.

Sakura was blinding, an inescapable singularity sucking in the fuming chakra of the broken and bloody puppets at her feet. They kept crawling to her, clutching at her shins and pulling at her torn shirt, piling one on top of the other like pigs for slaughter, too stupid to run from the threat. Sakura didn't even tip her head to look down at them; she lifted one leg to shake it free, then brought it right back down onto a puppet's skull. There was no brain as the skull splintered against stone, only thick black blood and the smell of rot. The corpse twitched weakly before succumbing, dissipating into a puff of acrid, chakra-burnt smoke.

_I was unable to accept such a beauty. On the contrary, I became anxious and fell into a state of melancholy, and a feeling of emptiness overtook me. But now, at long last, I understand._

Suddenly, Kakashi could see each dead body at her feet in hyper-sharp relief, every stinking corpse of every enemy she had ever felled, crawling beneath her feet like maggots in a flooded cemetery. She was horrifying. She was beautiful. She was the morning sun come to kiss them all and burn them all alive.

_At the sight alone, I felt as if I had suffered a blow to the chest. In bearing witness to the gradual process of decay that appeared to be taking place in that grave of doodlebugs, I had tasted a cruel delight._

He wanted to die.

Next to him, Shino bent forward and vomited.

_You see, beneath the splendor of those cherry trees blooming in profusion, cadavers had been buried one by one, if you can imagine for a moment. Then, soon enough you'll understand just what sort of anxiety I'd been feeling._

Kakashi stared, slack-jawed, as Sakura reached down to grab a puppet by the neck. She lifted it above her head, those empty eyes of the void narrowing as she looked it.

There was a flash of red light.

A fountain of glittering blood.

Sakura's mouth opened.

What was it the Ketsu survivor had said? Those words Tsunade had read aloud, in her office, what felt like years ago?

" _The monster bled lights that the Lady Chi swallowed, and it made her glow."_

* * *

Sasuke was still sitting there, eyes closed, leaned against the cracking stone Seal and just wishing that if he was going to die, that it would at least happen soon. Lying there, with the noise and violence overhead raining pebbles and dust down onto his face, he was simmering in his own shame. Too weak to stand up, too pathetic to do anything but sit there and wait to die.

Wasn't that what he had wanted all along?

To finally find a way to be free of himself?

Wasn't that what he had always been searching for, a purpose, freedom from his self-imposed curse?

Maybe death had been the thing he was searching for the entire time. At least, with his death, he could pay back the pain he had caused to so many, right?

What was it he was searching for?

Sasuke continued to sit there, wallowing in disgust and self-hatred. The silence was comforting, as if it echoed his own loneliness back onto himself until he would go deaf from it.

But then he heard a noise.

A wet, heavy dragging noise.

Sasuke opened his eyes and bit his tongue hard enough to taste blood.

A grimy trail of blood slithered all the way from the rubble-filled entrance of the cave to Manami's sickeningly twisted feet.

Manami was staring at Sasuke with her one good eye, dragging herself along with her claw-like fingernails until the veins in her biceps strained hard enough to pop. Her other eye was gone, lost somewhere in the oozy sculpture of flesh and embedded stone that had once been the right side of her face. She didn't even try to stand, not crazed enough to attempt walking on the leg that dragged along behind, both lower bones jutting out of the skin at what appeared to be a very precise 45-degree angle.

Sasuke was almost impressed. All that gore made her a  _very_  different kind of intimidating.

He trained his face into a carefully neutral expression as she came close, close enough that he could feel the heat of her broken, inflamed body on his skin, close enough to smell her sweat and her urine and her blood, close enough to hear her rasping for desperate, uneven breaths with what sounded like a very collapsed lung.

"Even your…pretty…little flower didn… kill me…uke," Manami managed to say, forcing each word out as violently as Sasuke had ever seen her. Now he was truly impressed.

Just centimeters from her death and she was still so full of hate and madness? Still so hellbent on taunting him to her very last breath?

There was something in that to be respected. A devotion that Sasuke could admire. Maybe even be jealous of.

_What is it you've been searching for?_

"Killed…m' brother…but couldn…ill me…" Manami finally collapsed, between Sasuke's knees, panting hard. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth and spittle sprayed over the ground.

"Fun…Sas…such fun…right?"

Sasuke finally had enough. Whether it was pity, revulsion, or simple irritation that made him do what he did next, he didn't know, and probably would never care enough to think that hard about it anyway.

Sasuke moved one foot to press Manami's shoulder securely to the stones, and the other twisted deep into her knotted, filthy hair. Sasuke knew what he felt against his knuckles was bone and brain matter, but as long as he got hold of enough intact scalp, he didn't really give a shit.

Manami sighed happily, closing her eyes.

For the first time in so many years, she smelled flowers.

Sasuke pulled.

Manami smiled.

Sasuke let go.

_Thud._

Sasuke watched Manami's headless body slump to the ground between his legs, face never changing. A shockingly small amount of blood poured from her neck, just another testament to how close to death she had been already. He hadn't even really killed her. He almost considered it a kindness; one she certainly didn't deserve.

As he watched her body shiver in the last movements of death, a familiar heat threaded through his veins, starting in that hollow, scarred place above his navel.

* * *

_Sakura's hands were small and cold as they curled into the sides of his shirt, holding on for dear life as his summons flew them toward her rendezvous point. She was careful not to touch him, refusing to have any more contact with him than physically necessary. After what had been said between them in the caves, he wasn't surprised. He would get her back to the Village safe, and then he'd be gone anyway. Better that she hated him._

_The huge brown eagle swooped low to avoid an air current, making them both shift their balance precariously to stay upright. There was a split second of weightlessness in the dive, a crucial moment best – the exact moment a blazing heat punched him in the gut with the force of a dozen rasengan._

_Behind him, Sasuke heard Sakura scream in pure, crystalline agony. He felt her let go, felt the force of it knock her clear back over herself, and Sasuke just_ moved.

_It was seconds before they hit the water._

_Three._

_Sasuke reached up and managed to grab Sakura by the neck of her shirt – something in its funny design made for an excellent fabric handle right at the throat._

_Two._

_Sasuke pulled her, hard, into his chest, shielding her body with hers as she lost consciousness._

_One._

_He shut his eyes and braced them both._

_Impact._

_It was only later, after he had dragged her to shore and shocked her into consciousness with a very finely controlled, one-pinky-finger chidori to the heart, that she had asked what had happened._

" _It means Blood has spilled," Sasuke had told her, not caring enough at the time to elaborate. If Sakura had pressed him, he probably would have eventually told her it was the bound chakra returning to the seal, dispersing itself among those who still lived._

_But she hadn't pressed him. That was when Sasuke had finally felt the distance between them, because, for the first time, Sakura's arm was not reaching across._

* * *

The hot surge of chakra finally lit something inside of Sasuke, that tiny flame of hope he so often neglected.

He forced himself to his feet, bracing himself with one arm against the stone Seal. Sasuke nudged Manami's limp body away with the toe of his sandal, ignoring the crunching noises in her lungs.

Sasuke slowly walked his way to the mouth of the cave, weakly climbing through the mangled curtain of flowing water and out into the bay.

Sasuke never even tried to see where Manami's head had ended up.

Why would he?

She was finally sleeping in peace.


	29. In Her Skin

The battlefield exploded into action; Sakura's spell of terror broken by the frantically moving mass of puppets. Yamato and Shino were doing their best, but whatever damage they managed to inflict only made the puppets dissolve into that oily, glittering smoke and reassemble themselves. Only Sakura was putting them down, and _keeping_ them down, as she rampaged. Her skin was so horrifyingly radiant that Kakashi's eyes followed her through the outrageous din, watching enrapt as she tore puppets clean in half and sucked up the boiling smoke of their insides like a hungry black hole.

Finally, Kakashi started to move. Everything inside of him was screaming: _What is that thing walking around in Sakura's skin?_ Panic squeezed at the walls of his heart – Sakura looked a lot like Guy had looked when he opened the Tenth Gate.

That wasn't something people were really known to come back from.

Kakashi tore through a wall of puppets, feeling the skin-to-skin contact like a million wasp stings. As he wrenched his way through, a few of them turned about-face to look him directly in the eyes, sentience alighting across their faces.

Kakashi felt the shift in the air like it was tangible.

He ducked, just in time to avoid a puppet that launched itself at him and dodged to the left to avoid another. His shoulder connected heavily into the back of a third, and Kakashi acted more out of instinct than anything else. He grabbed it by its shoulders, fingers curling into the filmy, not-quite-real fabric of its shirt, and yanked it around to use as a sort-of human shield. Kakashi's muscles strained as he took hit after hit, blows that were only vaguely softened by the body in between.

"Sakura!"

Kakashi was screaming blindly, with no idea where she was. He wanted, no, _needed_ to find her, needed to hear her voice and know that whatever was happening was still _her._

"SAKURA!"

Kakashi finally dropped the puppet he was holding, snapping its neck as he did so. It may not have killed the puppet, but it bought time for himself. Kakashi lurched deeper into the fray, hands and feet whipping this way and that with delirious speed, knocking down everything in his way.

For what felt like hours, but was likely only a few minutes, that was all Kakashi could see. Wave after wave of red-skinned puppets, crashing over him. Their bodies were so hot that he could feel it even through his flak vest. Every instance of skin-to-skin contact snapped like lightning, the Blood chakra crackling painfully along his forearms. Kakashi gritted his teeth until his jaw popped, his fingers sinking into the puppets' flesh. They all felt half-rotted, like their false skin would slip off of the muscles and disintegrate underhand.

A puppet caught Kakashi in the gut as he was moving, knocking him off balance and sending them both crashing to the ground. It pinned him down on his back, both of its burning hands grasping feverishly at Kakashi's throat. There was a moment in the struggle where Kakashi looked into its inhuman face.

Every puppet melted into the other, featureless and all the same. But in that furtive moment, the smoke cleared, and Kakashi could see its face.

It was a woman, with a wide nose and gentle cupid's bow.

Her eyes swam into focus last, and only for the slightest of moments, but Kakashi saw them.

Saw the fear in them, saw the pain in them.

Saw the eternity of death in them.

They were eyes that had long since closed. Eyes that should never had been opened again.

The puppet's weight pressed harder into his throat and Kakashi tried not to choke on his own spit. He pulled his legs up and threw his center of gravity backward, slinging a knee over each of the puppet's shoulders and forcing it away from him. Its hold on his throat weakened, and Kakashi reached with both his hands to sink his fingers into its filmy hair and ripped it apart.

It was like a blast of scalding steam pouring over Kakashi when it disintegrated, blood streaming over his chest and the chakra smoke clouding around him.

Kakashi scrambled his way up from the ground as the island was rocked by a massive boom. His head whipped this way and that as he tried to find Sakura, searching for the beacon of otherworldly light among the rest.

He heard her laugh before he saw her.

It was Sakura's voice, yes, but not hear laughter. It was a soft laugh, not unlike the sound of a crystal wine glass when one runs their finger along the rim, around and around and around. But it was so _wrong –_ the noise screamed through the sky, too loud in the ear and too deep in the bone, making Kakashi's heart stop in his chest. When he heard her voice, it was soundless, but he felt it threading its way through his mind.

_One-by-one, brother, we will be put to rest._

_Can't you feel it?_

* * *

Saya was hidden deep in the hollowed-out shell of the Grand House, watching over the fighting below in a trance-like state. Her fingers and wrists danced about like spiders, flailing madly. Her joints clicked audibly in the otherwise silent house as she tried to keep up.

Saya's stomach was churning, both with fear and distress.

She was doing what she was sworn to do, to protect Ichiro and protect the Seal. Whatever Ichiro asked of her, she would do. He had found her in the streets, brought her to the islands and saved her life – it was what he was owed.

But this made her sick.

This was not what Chi had taught her, not really. Chi had wanted her suffering to be known, wanted her martyrdom to end wars. Not this, not a war carried out in a sham of her memory…

And now Chi had risen with the morning sun.

Saya was not bound to the Seal, but she knew how it worked. She knew that it was more than a reservoir, it was a gravestone. The inscriptions were not only markings to seal chakra, they were an epitaph.

Saya suspected that this was something Ichiro, so wrapped up in his grief and his hatred for the outside world, had never understood. Losing Chi had blinded him to reason, removed his senses. Ichiro had felt nothing but chakra when he touched the Seal.

But on those chilly evenings out in the islands, Saya had felt more. She had lain on the Seal, felt it pressing into her back as she stared at the setting sun and the stars. She had felt every sacrifice swirling within the fūinjutsu, felt the warmth of the souls inside of it. And when the sun was setting, pouring red across the horizon and bathing Saya in its last dregs of warmth, Saya could feel Chi beneath her, feel her soft and maternal embrace as if Chi was right there beside her.

Saya had spent so long wondering what it would take to be reunited with the woman who had for so long been her only mother.

As she watched over the surface of the island, Saya came to realize what it would take.

It was the same thing that followed her at every turn. It was an insatiable pet, nipping at her heels and begging for its pound of flesh.

It was the burning woman below, swallowing chakra and breaking apart the island rock by individual rock in her search.

It would take what had always been there, just beneath the surface, pulling at the edges.

Death.

* * *

Kakashi finally saw her.

He saw her in profile first. Her skin was so _red,_ sizzling off in thin flakes that turned to ash as they left her body. The Creation Rebirth stretched across her cheeks and down her body, growing new skin as fast as it could burn away. Sakura's hair whipped around her skull like tentacles, and for a moment Kakashi thought that she looked like a monster that had crawled ashore from the sea.

Sakura jumped into the air with a screech that echoed around them all, a screech of pure exaltation. When her body slammed back into the island, there was a deafening sound of squealing rock as stone cleaved from stone. The entire island shook and began to rumble underfoot. Kakashi crouched and held on for dear life as that otherworldly laugh rang out again and could only watch as a whole side of the island crumbled away into the sea. Dozens of puppets went down with it, their bodies looking like so many little clover mites crawling over each other before they disappeared into the water.

Kakashi saw Sai's massive bird swoop down into the fray with Sai on its back, as he reached down to yank Yamato out of the water and behind him onto the painted beast. Kakashi glanced around furtively, but Shino was nowhere to be seen.

_Did you feel it too, brother?_

_Did you feel her come to rest?_

Kakashi covered his ears and yelled, yelled louder than he had every yelled before, trying to drown out that voice, that bastardization of the woman he loved that tried to crawl into his ears and worm through his brain.

Too much was happening at once, bodies crawling over each other, blood spilling to the ground until it was an ankle-deep morass, huge chunks of rock shivering in place before shearing off into the water.

"Chidori!"

Kakashi's head snapped up in surprise, just in time to see Sasuke cut down a wide line of puppets in one fell stroke.

Sasuke came back to the ground with a disjointed stumble, clutching at his aching shoulder. Kakashi stared at him with alarm, shocked by the festering wounds on his face and the dried blood that covered Sasuke from head to toe. Kakashi forced himself to his feet, lurching towards Sasuke, trying to grab him by the arm-

And was yanked cruelly back by a fist buried deep in his hair.

Kakashi's eyes never left Sasuke's, and Sasuke's eyes told him what he couldn't turn to see for himself. The Uchiha, a man that had never lost his composure once in Kakashi's memory, blanched with fear.

"You'll have to kill us all then, you little bitch!"

With every word he spoke, Ichiro's rough fingers balled tighter in Kakashi's hair. The skin-to-skin contact sucked at him, emptied him, until he was limp; Kakashi hung from Ichiro's fist like a rag doll.

Ichiro loomed over Kakashi, with a smile so sickening Kakashi could taste bile in his throat. His other hand, glowing with that same Blood-red luminescence, grabbed Kakashi's chin and ripped the mask away with little fanfare.

"Let's see what the flower does when the roots are crushed," Ichiro said. The sentence poured out of his lips like grease, rank and hateful. His hand gripped at Kakashi's face, rough calluses digging in to soft, pale skin. Kakashi felt the inside of his cheek tear open against his teeth.

"One last look, you Leaf scum." Ichiro's voice was no more than a whisper as he forced Kakashi's chin to the side, making him stare straight at Sakura's burning figure. Even from this distance, his eyes zeroed in on her face.

There was nothing recognizable there. Lips twisted in anger, baring all of her teeth in a row of pearly daggers. The Creation Rebirth marred her cheeks like ropy scars.

When he looked in her eyes, no matter how deep, there was no Sakura.

And then a pain so pure that existence itself fell apart at the seams exploded in his skull.

"NO!"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorty but a goody. The rest of the battle will be like this: short, sweet, and (full of my excessive descriptions of every minute detail so probably not) to the point. Any guesses as to what happens next?


	30. END IT END IT END IT

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Graphic Violence, like, teeth and eye stuff. Just a touch.

" _Do you know what it is we've done, sweet flower?"_

_Sakura's ears rang._

_Reality shimmered around her in waves. Heat and chakra blazed through her body, but it felt almost… separate from her. Two worlds melted in over each other; a shaking landscape and burning lights that felt almost as real as Chi's hands squeezing hers, so tight, too tight, forcing her consciousness to stare into those empty eyes of dripping void._

" _Ichiro never knew how many I killed in my anger, how many died so I could be stronger. So we could be stronger. So my heart could still beat for the Blood, no matter what I'd lost."_

_Chi's voice was cold, heavier than it had ever sounded to Sakura before. It was heavy, falling to the ground like all that blood, all the blood that was much too much to come from one woman's body…_

_Sakura felt like she might be sick._

" _Ichiro thought I would never know how many he killed to do the same once I was gone."_

_The blood seemed to rise around Sakura's ankles, warm and sticky and making her stomach lurch to her throat. At the same time, the heat in her chest was raging so painfully that Sakura felt she would burst. The warmth slaked her skin, razing it like open flame. Tears began to prick at her eyes and the world started to fold around her like a house of cards, heat and shaking and smoke and blood and coldness spilling over each other in a squealing mass that would drive her mad._

" _But I knew, I swallowed every one. I gave myself to this Seal, and they all gave themselves to me. I have spent so long burning in this stone."_

_Sakura felt hot and fuzzy, losing sensation all over, held by nothing but the overwhelming chill of Chi's hands on hers._

_It all seemed funny, suddenly. How unreal it all was._

" _I will burn us all to ash, sweet flower, and then we will rest."_

_Chi's hands let go and suddenly there was nothing but the heat and the electricity crackling through Sakura's every cell._

_She started to laugh._

_She laughed until she couldn't laugh anymore, and then she began to scream. Sakura screamed and screamed, coiling in on herself and clawing at her skin just to_ feel something else.

_And when she just couldn't scream again, she closed her eyes and cried._

_It hurt, it all just hurt so much._

_She just wanted to be lost in this, until she could feel nothing._

_She just wanted it to stop hurting._

_She just wanted it all to stop._

_She just wanted it to stop._

_She just wanted-_

"SAKURA!"

_To be home, in bed, asleep, with-_

"SAKURA!"

_Kakashi._

_Sakura opened her eyes, but still, there was nothing but blurry, burning lights of red and orange streaking around her consciousness ad infinitum._

_But she had heard it, she knew she had heard it._

_And when she heard it, a warm kernel of soft light sprouted in her forehead, right between her eyebrows; a humming, jade halo of her own chakra._

_Sakura gasped, choking on the absolute lack of air, and the warmth exploded across her being. It coated her body in a soft, warm hum and compressed her soul. Sakura felt herself crushed into a singularity; mind pulled so thin it began to rip like wet paper –_

* * *

Sakura poured back into herself, as if someone had dumped a screaming kettle over her head, but she was very much the scalding water itself, leeching back into her own body through the skin in a shocking wave of pain. Sakura choked on the air and tried to move, but she was held back, struggling against a mirror inside of herself.

_Not yet, sweet flower._

_**Stop.** _

_Not yet-_

Sakura's vision swam into focus, just in time for everything to drag into slow motion.

Three men in front of her. Too far.

She saw Sasuke's back first, his hair wet and curly with blood and sweat. His neck was inflamed, so swollen with infection Sakura could see it from where she stood, struggling to move her muscles.

Ichiro second, his face turned to the side where he bent over, but his black, hateful eyes still staring out at her with a fire inside them. His hair had fallen from its ponytail and poured across his shoulders like oil. At the ends of his arms, that oil raged into a bright burning flare of chakra.

And then her eyes fell to Kakashi, just as that red flare burrowed into his skull.

Her eyes focused in on Kakashi's face, so much of his face, exposed here, on a ravaged stone battlefield reduced to uneven piles of gravel coated with blood. It was the most frightening thing she had ever seen, absolutely absent of any emotion, any awareness. Just resignation.

_**Ka-** _

_Not yet._

Time slowed down even more.

Kakashi's eyes rolled back into his head, and then Ichiro smiled a twisted, manipulative smile.

Kakashi's Sharingan eye exploded in a gooey paste, bone and chakra spurting out of the empty hole in his face. Blood poured across his cheek, the raw and torn open scar, across that little freckle Sakura loved so much.

Ichiro stood up and smiled, tossing Kakashi's body aside like trash.

Sakura's brain went absolutely still, white, and empty.

_ENDITENDITENDITENDIT_

* * *

Saya's breath froze in her lungs, fingers stilling their frenzied dance as an icy cold kunai nuzzled her throat. A few errant bugs crawled from its steel to her face, tickling her skin.

She did not turn but continued to stare out of the house at the scene before her.

A shock wave of red light burst from Ichiro's hand, and the silver-haired shinobi fell to the ground.

And as Saya slowly let out her breath, throat scraping against metal and bugs crawling into her mouth, the glare of the rising sun on the water was eclipsed by the woman below.

"NO!"

Her scream was so loud it cracked the sea in half. Waves slammed against the cliffs, making the house shake violently. The kunai pressed just slightly tighter against Saya's neck as the floor moved and the finest line of blood flowered against its edge.

"Don't do it."

The voice was quiet and intimidating, but Saya did not heed it. She  _had_ to do it. She didn't  _want_ to, she  _had_ to. Saya's eyes went wide as the woman began moving forward, faster and angrier with each step. Time itself seemed to warp around her as she began to run.

Saya's arms rose in a frenzied arc in one final attempt to block her advance.

A thick wave of puppets rose in front of her, crawling one over the other to form a boiling wall.

It was useless.

Her mouth opened, and from it poured a keening wail that shook the air, a high-pitched ache of pain and loss that shattered Saya's soul.

The woman's hands swung in front of her to form a seal that Saya recognized with a wave of nausea. Her hands released, and a light-bending arc of red chakra burst forth from each.

The entire mass of puppets disintegrated in a towering wall of chakra flame that exploded across the ground. Their chakra was stolen from Saya's control so violently that it made her pitch forward to her elbows, scraping her neck deeper against the kunai. Even as her blood began flowing freely to the filthy floor, Saya's eyes did not move from her view out of the attic's broken walls.

The fire bloomed across the stones before smoldering into nothingness, and the traitor, Sasuke, had to leap out of the flames. He avoided the worst of it, but his wounds made him slow. It was shocking that he moved at all. The flames grazed his leg and consumed it with a glassy sheen of red chakra, and she saw his face twist with agony before he slammed into the ground and out of sight.

The woman strode closer and closer to Ichiro, his sword was already drawn. Her hair was ablaze with chakra, her skin so dark and red it was nearly black. An aura of black light swirled around her, sucking in the sunlight until it was nothing. Her mouth opened in a void of red hatred and Saya lost consciousness.

* * *

_Chi's face was placid, peaceful. Her hair hung like flawless sheets of silver silk, shimmering in a light that must have emanated from her skin itself._

_Yet in all this overwhelming beauty, when her eyes opened, they were empty, reddish-black holes of pure abomination._

_Ichiro felt smothered by the smallness of this tiny stone sanctuary, so tiny he could not stand up straight. He was forced to bend his knees and crane his neck in a shameful bow as he looked into those loathsome eyes._

" _What have you_ done,  _Chi?!" His voice screamed in circles around the stone, ringing in his ears and making his head ache._

" _What lives must die, brother. We will be put to rest."_

_The words hit him with the force of a mountain._

_So many years since he had heard that crystalline voice, those words that flowed into the next like orchid syrup, but still. How had he not realized, not recognized?_

_The weight in his chest increased tenfold and his blood turned to icy stone. Ichiro could no longer breathe, he could feel no air in his lungs, but by some gruesome trick of reality he still spoke._

" _We would end all wars, Chi, if you would let us."_

" _You_ started  _a war, Ichiro." Chi's words were cold, biting. "The blame does not lie only with you; I admit it sleeps in this grave with me as well. We have both become lost in mourning, but only you lived long enough to make waves."_

" _Chi, you cannot stop me from-"_

" _Not I, brother."_

_Chi rose from her stone bench and stood in front of Ichiro. Her hand reached inside of the pocket of his cloak, coming back out with a tiny embroidered pouch. Chi pulled the strings loose and a set of ruby hair pins rained into her palm. They rolled around like drops of blood on a snowbank._

" _A flower is growing in the Blood's bloated corpse."_

_Chi's fingers closed around the pins and disappeared inside of her sleeve._

" _She will_ ENDITENDITENDITENDIT  _put us to rest, Ichiro. Isn't that what we've deserved for so long? To rest?"_

_The ice in Ichiro's veins melted into liquid fire. He gritted his teeth through the pain._

" _Where are we, Chi? Why are you saying these things? If you give up, so be it; release me so I can carry on with this family's honor."_

" _I tell you this, so you know you only brought this pain upon yourself."_

_Chi took a pause and sighed._

" _As you wish, dear brother."_

* * *

Sakura's vision was red as she launched herself on Ichiro. She was barely even aware she was moving. In the half instant after she landed on him, he was frozen, drowning in her red haze, but he slammed back into himself with a scream of anger.

He remembered his sword and swung it haphazardly at her head as best as he could manage. Sakura barely flinched as she flicked her palm up to catch it, the metal licking through her flesh. Her blood sizzled on the sword as she stared deep into Ichiro's eyes, her gaze never leaving his.

Sakura's other hand gripped his chin, squeezing so tight he tasted the blood in his spit as it collected on his tongue. Flame crawled up her fingers and around his face, encircling him with a hood of burning red thorns.

"You are no martyr."

Sakura's grip tightened more; Ichiro's jaw buckled between her fingers, bone fracturing under the pressure and teeth coming loose in their sockets.

"You are no war hero."

Every word tore a deeper hole in his eardrums until Ichiro heard them more in the meat of his brain than in his ears.

"You are  _scum._ "

Sakura's left hand dropped the sword and shot at Ichiro's open face with nauseating speed. Her knuckles crushed his nose and forced slivers of bone into his brain. One eye socket collapsed, vitreous humor and blood dribbling down his cheek.

Ichiro tried to open his mouth to speak, and Sakura hit him again, even harder.

Her knuckles scraped open against his teeth as she forced them down his throat, tearing open his gullet and throttling him. Ichiro began to choke, aspirating his own blood.

Sakura shoved him back and Ichiro collapsed on the ground, shaking and twitching. She picked up his forgotten sword and stalked around his body. She knelt down next to his head, making sure he could see her with his one good eye.

"No one," she said, the words worming themselves into his spine.

"Will ever,"

Sakura lifted the sword and rested its tip against Ichiro's chest, right above his madly beating heart.

"Remember you."

Sakura put all of her weight behind it as she rammed the blade through Ichiro's ribs, his lungs, his heart, and even deep into the stone beneath him.

Blood gurgled in his throat, bubbling out with what sounded eerily like a laugh.

Sakura spit on his face, lifted her foot, and crushed in his skull.

Sakura turned back around, and her eyes landed on Kakashi's still body. At the same moment, Ichiro's chakra poured back into the fractured Seal, a hot tongue of energy slamming all of the air out of her lungs. It splintered in her chest and shoved her forward.

Sakura fell to her knees and crawled over to Kakashi, tears beginning to track down her cheeks. The violent red glow of her skin started to fade, the air stilling around them.

When she reached him, pulling his head into her lap, that expressionless, beautiful face with a gory pit in its side, Sakura threw her head back and screamed.


	31. Return

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please just don't hate me oh my goodness

Sakura's fingers were shaking as they pressed into the sides of Kakashi's skull. She tried to keep them as still as possible, but still they shook, making the ends of Kakashi's messy, dirty hair tickle against her bare stomach.

She fought to wrestle with the energy till screaming in her veins. In her skull, Sakura felt the nexus of her third eye throb, shaking with the stress of  _so_ much chakra. The Blood Seal was shuddering under pressure; Sakura felt as though every crack in the stone _she couldn't even see_ was splitting across her own skin.

She paid very little attention to any of the footsteps that slowly came to surround her. Every iota of her focus sank deep into the base of her brain, into that same place where Sakura's very consciousness breathed, where her heart began to beat.

It flared and sparkled down her arms like trails of fairy light, surrounding her hands in a veil of chakra and delving deep in Kakashi's skin.

Somewhere nearby, a woman gasped lightly. A more familiar male voice shushed her.

Sakura's brow furrowed, her closed eyes tightening with distress.

She started by knitting together the destroyed bone of Kakashi's eye socket, feeling the upward arches of both cheek and eyebrow snap upright and solid beneath her working fingers. The skin and flesh were harder – it took time, it took finesse, and right now Sakura's overwhelming flow of chakra took the possibility of either off the board. Sakura worked out of sheer instinct and muscle memory, barely taking the time to think, as she repaired Kakashi's wounds from the outside in.

The damage was worse than she expected as she moved deeper into Kakashi's brain.

Her breath started catching in her throat.

Ichiro had absolutely  _eviscerated_ Kakashi's ocular nerves, ocular tissues, everything. His right eye was still more or less intact, but it was blinded. And his left?

Absolutely gone. Sakura couldn't  _heal_ what  _didn't exist._

Sakura did emergency triage on everything the whirling jade hum of her chakra touched: Bone hardened, flesh softened, hair grew; beneath that, Sakura stretched her consciousness across his nerves like scar tissue, creating a fleshy frame for his accelerated nerve growth to grow along. She felt every one of the nerve fibers creeping along her senses like tiny fingers, and she fought against the reflex to puke.

Sakura held her breath as she delved deeper, deeper than she had ever done on another human.

" _What are the limits of the chakra's reach as an organic influence, now that you can bind chakra to blood and organic tissue?"_

Sakura didn't waste the time to think too hard about it.

Tsunade was the one who brought up brain death. Sakura was just willing to take a chance on the idea.

Sakura wrapped herself around Kakashi's brain until her chakra soaked it.

Jade chakra threaded through his spinal cord, tickling every nerve.

The emptiness inside of him drained Sakura. It sucked at her insides and pulled from somewhere so deep she thought she might join him in that divine unconsciousness. Her eyes rolled back into her head and glazed over with a chakra sheen.

It was disgusting, the sensation of all that nothingness.

She pushed her chakra  _harder,_ and the high-pitched hum in the base of her skull increased tenfold. Sakura bit her lip so hard it split, immediately scarring back together with the wash of chakra flooding her body.

Sakura's fingers dug hard into Kakashi's skin, hard enough to form new bruises.

Sakura felt his heart begin beating, jerking back to weak sinus rhythm with a nauseating spasm.

But in his brain, nothing. No spark of electricity in the forebrain. No consciousness.

Synapses shivered just beneath her fingertips, but nothing more.

Sakura's chakra slowly seeped back out of Kakashi's skin, and her tears turned into weeping. Even as his labored breathing began to take hold in her arms, there wasn't any real  _him_  there. She just…couldn't…force it.

The second she let go of her focus, Sakura felt the chakra inside of her begun to boil and rage again, far too much squeezed into a space far too small. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, and Sakura began to clench her fists so tight that her fingernails poked two neat lines of crescent-shaped wounds across her palms. Sakura choked down a mouthful of vomit and willed herself to breathe.

"You need more, sweet girl."

Sakura's eyes flashed open and her body craned protectively over Kakashi's. She whipped to stare at Saya with her teeth bared, having recognized that accent and laughable nickname immediately.

Sakura's eyes flitted back and forth, taking in the scenery around her for the first time.

Half of the island had toppled into the waves, and what remained was leveled into piles of sticky red gravel. Yamato and Sai stood to her right, Yamato leaning heavily on Sai and keeping his weight off of his ankle. To her left, Sasuke stood quietly, shoulders dawn tight and swollen face pinched with pain.

In front of Sakura, Saya stood staring with wide eyes, diminutive beneath Shino's shadow that loomed inches behind her, his kunai held dangerously close to Saya's neck.

The second the two women made eye contact, Saya fell to her knees as the air left her lungs.

_She's still here._

"Destroy the Seal," Saya choked the words out like bile. Every moment she spent looking at this blood-stained flower made her head ache. Her visage crackled like static, wavering between snarls of soft pink and sheets of ivory silk. Saya squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head back and forth.

Sakura rocked back and forth on her knees. Her mouth opened wide, but no sound came out. Whatever wail of pain and madness that was born from those lips was too unearthly for any of them to hear.

After a moment, Sakura buried her face in her hands. When she spoke, though muffled, her words could be heard.

"Where is it?"

Each word was coarse, Sakura's throat hoarse and torn.

"In the caves," Saya said. She was hushed, unable to look back into Sakura's otherworldly eyes.

"Go get it."

There was a moment where no one moved, and the stillness breathed painfully through all of them.

"I said  _ **go get it**_ _._ "

There was the scuttling sound of feet over stone, and then Sai and Shino were gone, as was the red-haired kunoichi.

Sakura ignored Yamato when he sat down heavily beside her, still gingerly moving his rapidly swelling ankle. She afforded the same courtesy to Sasuke when he approached her other side. It was only when he coughed loudly that she forced herself to look away from Kakashi's shallowly breathing chest.

"It will only get worse when you destroy it," he said. His voice was weak and quiet.

The tears in Sakura's eyes only swelled more when she got her first good look at Sasuke. His skin was so pale it bordered on gray, and the skin beneath his eyes was a sickly shade of purple. His breathing was fast and thready, and every time he inhaled, Sasuke shivered with a chill that came from somewhere deep inside.

The savagely carved seals across his face were festering, black, and putrid. Tears of pus cried themselves across Sasuke's skin. His whole face was swollen and tight.

"What did they do to you?" Sakura reached out to gently brush his chin with the tips of her fingers. Maybe it was the stress or the exhaustion, but Sakura could have sworn that he leaned into the touch, just for a second.

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does, Sasuke! I could-"

Sasuke cut Sakura off midsentence with a familiar "tch" sound and quirk of the jaw. He reached down to pull aside the charred tatters of fabric around his lower leg.

The skin was raw and puckered with large, bloody blisters. Each one leaked an effervescent lilac fluid that disappeared as quickly as it could leech out of Sasuke's skin.

His own chakra was seeping out of his leg.

It was a wound that even Sakura knew she couldn't heal. The meat of Sasuke's calf was eaten away to the bone in funny little lesion shapes, and through the damage Sakura could see Sasuke's chakra ripping free of its network and forcing itself out into the unforgiving air.

"Did I…" Sakura pressed her fingers against her lips and stared at the ground, willing the tears to stop.

"Doesn't matter."

There was a long pause. Sakura just kept looking at the ground, feeling useless and scared. Her head hurt, her veins hurt, her  _soul_ hurt. She just wanted to go home. She just wanted-

Sakura shook her head roughly.

She needed to get it together.

Sakura straightened her shoulders and cleared her throat, trying to focus clearly on…anything.

"Give me your ankle."

Yamato jumped when Sakura suddenly crouched far too close to him for comfort. The heat still radiated off of her. Even her hair still twirled in the still air.

Sakura took Yamato's ankle firmly in her hands, healing it just to ground herself, just to feel useful.

It wasn't enough, though. Just a simple sprain from falling into the water. In less than a minute the muscles were in perfect condition and Sakura was again left with nothing but a dying first love and a brain-dead lover.

Before she could slip into self-pitying catatonia, Sasuke spoke up again.

"Take one of my eyes."

" _Excuse me?!"_ Yamato and Sakura squawked in unison.

Sasuke ignored Yamato, but he fixed Sakura with a level gaze.

_What is it you've been searching for?_

"I'm going to die. I don't need them."

_To belong to a family._

_And how does one belong?_

_They sacrifice for the people they care for._

"You're not going to die-" Sakura tried to argue, but Sasuke just shook his head _._

_He had taken so much from them, these people he loved. He had hurt them so much._

_Now he could do something_ right.

Sasuke coughed thickly and spit blood onto the stones.

"Just let me do one thing right, Sakura, before I die the same worthless man that I've always been."

Sakura curled close to Sasuke's side and cried into his shoulder.

"You've never been worthless."

* * *

When the last only other vein in the seal collapsed with the finality of death, when the soft lilac chakra drowned itself into the seal, Sakura cried.

Its heat did not bloom in her navel, but in her eyes. It was hot as it swelled there, hot as it poured down her face, hot as it spilled into her mouth, hot as she began to howl at the red morning sky.

Yamato held her until his skin started to burn.

* * *

Sakura was cold and silent when the last Blood-nin and the two Leaf shinobi returned. Her face was empty and horrifying as she bent over Kakashi's still body, hands working feverishly around his upturned face. Blood splashed across the rocks and across her chest as her fingers flashed back and forth with an angry green glow.

And yet, the desperation in her hands never reached her face.

Those eyes stayed as void as they had ever been.

Yamato stood up stiffly and wiped his hands on his pants, and none were particularly surprised to see a cloak-covered body lying absolutely still at his feet.

Sai and Shino gingerly placed the large stone Seal on the ground, backing away from it as quickly as they dared.

Both had felt sick to their stomach the moment they'd entered the cave, stepping over collapsed hunks of rock and a shattered, headless body. The all-encompassing feeling of dread had only gotten worse when they had lifted the seal, sinking into their bones like a disease.

Relief flooded them the moment they were free of it.

"Sakura," Yamato said softly, gently dropping one hand to her shoulder.

"Give me a minute."

Yamato watched over Sakura's shoulder as the cloud of healing chakra in that hand held a discolored eye aloft, her other hand manipulating the chakra to twist and fold the two bundles of nerves together. It was a bloody mess as the eyeball sunk into Kakashi's ashen, unconscious face. With a tweak of her fingers, Sakura forced the eye to focus and unfocus, looking through it with her own consciousness to ensure that it was properly attached in its place.

As always, Sakura was absolutely winded by the experience of working with the Sharingan. The dizzying network of chakra and nerve channels that she had to restructure was both fascinating and horrifying to be responsible for, twisting and turning back and forth and over itself in a mind-boggling maze of sensory evolution.

Very, very slowly, Sakura's chakra released itself from Kakashi's body, letting the eyelid flutter closed. She took no chances to destabilize the delicate balance she had made in his body.

This would be her only chance.

Sakura stood up, suddenly aware of just how much her body really ached. No matter how well her body could heal itself, it would still  _hurt,_ and now that pain was almost overwhelming.

She really just wanted to cry.

But she couldn't.

Sakura set her jaw and turned around, staring at that massive stone with hateful, resigned intent.

Almost six feet across in diameter, cracked and crumbling where it had been hewn from its stone roots out in the Mist's islands, the Seal was visibly pulsing to Sakura's eyes.

She walked up beside it, hefted it up, and wedged it into the ground with a high-pitched squeal of rock on rock. Sakura then stepped back and stared at the upright Seal with a mix of interest and fear.

"What will happen?"

Sakura's question was met with silence. After a few seconds, she turned to face Saya and repeated the question, demanding an answer.

"I do not know. It will release the fūinjutsu, but I do not know what will happen when…" Saya paused. "When you become the last piece of the Seal. It may be destroyed altogether."

"It might kill me."

Saya did not reply, but nodded gravely, her eyes never leaving the ground.

Sakura took a deep breath and raised a hand, letting her palm rest delicately on the Seal's rough surface.

"Sakura, you can't do this," Yamato interjected, placing a hand on Sakura's wrist and trying to pull her hand away, with no success. When she turned to look at him, Sakura's eyes were shining bright with purpose.

"It's my only chance to save him, Yamato-taichou. It's that and so much more, you have to understand."

"He wouldn't want you to risk your life like you, and you know that, Sakura."

Yamato was right, and Sakura knew it. Of course he was, Yamato was probably Kakashi's closest friend…but Sakura knew Kakashi was not the only reason for what she was about to do.

"There's more to it than just Kakashi. This is bigger than all of us. I need to put an end to it, Yamato."

Sakura smiled at him then, but it was not a happy smile. It was almost one of gentle apology.

She turned her head back to the Seal, her eyes tracing over each scrawled significate almost lovingly.

"One by one, I must put them all to rest."

"I would recommend stepping back, sir," Sai called out from behind them, and Yamato did just that.

Sakura sighed and pressed her hand more firmly against the stone. She felt it begin to crumble underhand as she concentrated chakra into her palm and through the rock. The swirling lines of seals began to glow, shifting dreamily between effervescent jade and boiling red. Sakura's eyes closed as she focused, streaming chakra through and around the Seal until it flared like fireworks.

Time slowed down around Sakura until one second stretched into eternity, and she inhaled deeply.

Total silence.

Sakura  _exhaled._

* * *

" _The sun signs her name in blood across the sky each night, to tell us she loves us, to promise she will come again. And every morning, she returns with the red dawn, spills her life blood down upon us, so we shall always have a Heartbeat."_

_Light spilled into the dark stone vestibule, and Chi shone so brightly she disappeared in an overflow of sunlight._

" _Thank you, my sweet flower."_

* * *

The stone exploded in a blinding burst of jagged rocks and burning chakra, blasting hot air and debris backward across the island and into the sea. The noise was deafening, and everyone standing behind Sakura bent over and covered their ears.

When they looked back up, Sakura was lurching disjointedly toward Kakashi again, rushing on unstable legs and nearly falling over. Her movements were jerky and erratic as she tried to walk.

Sakura felt like she was dying.

She had felt like she would die every time one of the others bound to the seal did; a hot rush of burning pain flooded her body each time and threatened to slam her soul right out of her own chest.

But this was so much worse.

It felt like infinities of chakra were compressed into a single roiling black hole of pressure right between her eyebrows, puncturing itself down her spine and into her gut with violent force. It knocked her off balance and  _hurt so much_ all over, too much chakra trying to find its way  _out out out it needed **out**._

Sakura fell to her knees next to Kakashi and spit a thick mouthful of blood to the side. She wiped her mouth and set her shoulders, ignoring the tickling sensation of her organs slowly turning to liquid.

_Can I even do this?_

_I could kill us both._

Sakura's mind went blank for half a moment, and one thought returned.

_We're both dead anyway._

Sakura placed a hand on either side of Kakashi's face, parted her blood-stained lips, and kissed Kakashi's cold lips.

It snapped between them like a bolt of lightning, Sakura's entire consciousness barreling down inside of Kakashi's nerves and soaking his nervous system with untold masses of chakra and electricity. Sakura embraced his brain with her own awareness and pushed into it, binding every cell with finely tuned frequencies of chakra until the synapses began to fire back and forth, so closely linked with his body in this moment that she felt every signal of Kakashi's brain skimming back and forth along her skin like billions of tiny kisses.

Sakura was not aware of it, but she started crying, fat sparkling tears pouring themselves down her cheeks as her sobs slowly dissolved into peals of manic laughter.

Sakura felt the pressure in her chest twist and loosen by the smallest fraction, a small  _snap_ and release just behind her ribs, and then her mind's eye exploded with an overly bright, overly sharp view of her own filthy, tear-streaked face, scrunched up in concentration and pain, but shaking with laughter.

Sakura's brain almost snapped in two trying not to rip itself out of Kakashi's body at that very instant. Sakura released her chakra from Kakashi's network as quickly as she dared, falling back into her body with a deep, aching intake of breath.

When her eyes opened, she looked into Kakashi's without breathing. There was a moment of nothing but the two of them looking into each other, her hands cradling his face so reverently, like it was a relic she could not dare to lose.

"You look terrible," Kakashi said, coughing a little before cracking an uneven, bruised smile.

Sakura screeched and dove forward to kiss him, dropping hundreds of them all over his face and neck as she started crying again.

* * *

Neither Kakashi nor Sakura was able to make the journey back themselves. Sakura's body was all but destroyed, and soon after the sun had finally finished rising, she had passed out against Kakashi's side.

He had been down long enough for the algor mortis to set in, and Kakashi was shivering right down to the bone. His fingers and jaws felt stiff and locked up, but when he tried to stand, his hips gave right out from under him.

In the end, Sai and Yamato had to devise a large platform and bird combination just to carry them all back to Konoha at the same time – including Sasuke's stiffening corpse and the very quiet, small Blood-nin that still remained.

Sakura had refused to leave either behind. Sai had initially suggested execution – a brutal, but unsurprising path to take. It was probably expected, even. But Sakura had screamed at him when he had said so, threatening to break his neck if he even tried. Saya had stared at Sakura with shock, but Sakura had made no attempts to look back at her. Whatever Sakura's motivations were, she was not sharing them.

So now there they were, all grouped together on a rudimentary wooden deck embedded into the back of one of Sai's painted birds. Shino sat just behind Saya, ever watchful, while Yamato sat beside Sasuke's body to make sure it stayed covered and did not fall off the side. He watched from behind as Sai sat cross-legged with closed eyes, concentrating deeply on bringing them home. After a few minutes of this, his gaze slid down to where Kakashi and Sakura laid, both deeply unconscious but, miraculously, breathing.

Sakura's hair still stood on end and danced around her skull. Almost immediately after falling asleep, the Creation Rebirth had unfolded itself along her limbs and begun its work, lighting up their traveling party like a beacon.

* * *

When they finally reached the Leaf Village, they walked in through the front gates.

Well, most of them did.

Yamato was carrying Kakashi on his back, Sai carrying Sakura on his. Shino kept pace at a tight two steps behind Saya, shadowing her every move, while a floating mass of beetles carried Sasuke's covered body in behind them.

"Where to?" Yamato asked, glancing sideways at Sakura.

"Hospital," she mumbled, squeezing her fists tight.

She was losing her grip and she knew it. About a day's worth of travel had not been kind to her body. The Creation Rebirth was keeping her together for now, but the chakra inside of her was still fighting to get out. It pressed on her every cell and swelled against her lungs. Sakura wondered, idly, if you could be smothered by your own life force. Although, in this case, it was probably hundreds of life force.

Sakura coughed, turned her head, and spat a bloody blob of mucus onto the ground.

Sai and Yamato exchanged a pair of tight nods and shot off to the hospital as instructed. Shino stayed behind to talk to the gate guards, and after a short few minutes of conversation, one tore off to the Hokage's Tower without looking back.

* * *

They were not halfway through the lobby by the time they were swarmed.

A whole horde of nurses descended onto Kakashi, much to his chagrin, piling him onto a stretcher and whisking him away into the depths of the hospital. His face, sloppily wrapped with dirt-smudged bandages, looked at Sakura with more than a small trace of worry, but she smiled weakly back at him.

It would be fine, she thought. It would surely be fine.

Sakura made no move to climb down off of Sai's back as another nurse approached her, much more respectfully than any of them had done for Kakashi.

"Yes?" Sakura asked, trying not to sound as pitiful as she felt.

"Lady Hyuu- excuse me, Mrs. Uzumaki has been asking for you for days now, Dr. Haruno."

Sakura blanched. With everything else, she had almost forgotten. Sakura nodded gravely at the nurse, and pinched Sai's waist carefully with her knees to urge him to follow the nurse through the hospital hallways.

"How are you feeling, Sakura?" Sai asked as he walked, quietly enough that the nurse did not hear.

"I'm fine, Sai, you don't have to try and hold a conversation for my sake."

"It is not for your sake. And if it is, then it's just as much for my own, Sakura."

She didn't know how to respond to that at first.

"There were several times on that island that I thought you were going to die. And I would like to think that over the years, you've become my friend. I care about  _you,_ Sakura, and it matters to me that you're okay."

Sakura held back tears and squeezed Sai with her knees and arms, hugging him tightly and somewhat awkwardly.

"I think I'll be okay, Sai. I'm just worried. I…I hurt Hinata. Badly. I don't know…I don't know what I'm going to do."

"She wouldn't ask for you if she didn't trust you."

Sakura bit her tongue and didn't reply.

For a while, the only sound was of boots squeaking across the glossy, well-waxed floors. The NICU doors loomed large and imposing ahead of them, and Sakura began wriggling on Sai's back.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Sakura said, sliding to the ground. She gingerly let herself adjust again to her own weight, leaning heavily on Sai's side. She held her breath for a second, looking very much like she would be sick, but then Sakura opened her eyes and nodded, staring through the NICU doors.

The nurse looked back and forth between Sai and Sakura, trying not to let her own worry show, and led them through the double doors into Sakura's worst nightmare.


End file.
